Bayer Leverkusen missed the final of the Europa League. Leverkusen couldn’t get past a draw in the semifinals against AS Roma on Thursday evening.
The second leg ended 0:0. After the 1-0 defeat (0-0) in the first leg, Leverkusen was eliminated from the Europa League. The final will take place on May 31st in Budapest’s Puskás Aréna (9pm).
The Werkself dominated the game for the entire 90 minutes and created a number of chances to score. But like last time in the Bundesliga, the final precision was missing. AS Roma, on the other hand, defended cleverly and entered the final against FC Sevilla.
Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso showed himself to be a fair sportsman after the game. “I don’t want to cry. We could have scored, we had enough chances,” he said, congratulating AS Roma on reaching the final. He was “proud” of his players, emphasized Alonso. “We gave everything to make it into the final.”
He added: “We played with full concentration, with high intensity. The way it has to be in a semi-final. We were well prepared.” The “big difference”, according to Alonso, was the golden goal of Rome’s home-grown child Edoardo Bove in the first leg.
Just a change at Bayer
The Leverkusen coach only changed his starting XI in one position compared to the 1-1 draw against Stuttgart in the Bundesliga: Florian Wirtz replaced Amine Adli in the starting line-up. Robert Andrich and Odilon Kossounou were still absent, both injured in the 1-0 defeat in the first leg.
On the other hand, Roma coach Mourinho made no changes from the first-leg success. As expected, his team acted defensively and cautiously from the start. On the other hand, Leverkusen took advantage of the atmosphere in the sold-out arena, started with a lot of speed and scored several goals in the first few minutes.
Diaby to the crossbar
Moussa Diaby caused the most dangerous situation in this phase, putting the ball on the crossbar from the right corner of the penalty area (12′). Demirbay’s low shots from the edge of the box also created a goal threat, although Rome goalkeeper Rui Patricio was on the spot twice (20/28).
Throughout the first half, Leverkusen dominated the game – the statistics showed that impressively: 12:1 shots on target, 331:124 passes played, 73:27 percent possession. However, because Leverkusen showed a certain weakness in the finish and the guests from Rome defended cleverly, the score was only 0-0 at half-time.
Leverkusen lacks final precision
At the beginning of the second half, AS Roma were a bit more active, defended higher and used situations to take time off the clock. Leverkusen initially found it difficult and hardly played in the penalty area. Often the last precision was missing with the final pass in front of the goal.
The first good opportunity in the second half finally came from Demirbay. But his shot from 22 meters into the short corner was again quickly parried by Rome’s keeper Patricio (67′). A few minutes later, a cross from Diaby, which found no takers, sailed just wide of the goal (76′).
Azmoun had probably the most dangerous chance in this phase. His massive direct acceptance from the edge of the penalty area just missed the long goal corner. In the eight-minute stoppage time, Rome withdrew even further and made it 0-0 over time.
Race for Europe in the Bundesliga
The next important game is already waiting for Leverkusen on Sunday. The Werkself host Borussia Mönchengladbach in a long-distance duel for international places (7:30 p.m.).
