Bayer Leverkusen managed to keep their unbeaten run going in a dramatic way as they returned from two goals down at home against AS Roma and booked a place in the Europa League final, thanks to their 2-0 victory in Rome in the first leg of the semifinals.
Leandro Paredes scored twice from the spot (43′, 66′) to nullify Leverkusen’s first-lg lead, but an own-goal from Gianluca Mancini (82′) and a very late strike from Josip Stanisic (90+7′) rescued Xabi Alonso’s side from losing a game for the first time in 2023/24.
The teams
Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso perhaps surprisingly decided to rotate his side to an extent, apparently confident of his team not having too many difficulties in keeping their advantage from the first leg. Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich, the two goalscorers from Rome, remained on the bench, as did Josip Stanisic.
Matej Kovar was in goal, with the usual trio of Edmond Tapsoba, Jonathan Tah and Piero Hincapie as the last line of defence. Exequiel Palacios replaced Andrich in the middle of the park next to Granit Xhaka, and Jeremie Frimpong dropped into the wing-back role on the right instead of Stanisic, Alejandro Grimaldo was on the left, while Jonas Hofmann came into the lineup in Frimpong’s more advanced role. Adam Hlozek, instead of Wirtz, also supported Amine Adli upfront.
As for Roma, Daniele De Rossi dropped the woeful duo of Chris Smalling and Rick Karsdorp from the first leg, with Leonardo Spinazzola moving to the right defensive flank, Angelino playing on the left, Evan Ndicka coming in the place of Smalling, and Gianluca Mancini completing the back four ahead of goalkeeper Mile Svilar. The rest of the lineup was unchanged from the contest in Rome, with the trio of Leandro Paredes, Bryan Cristante and Lorenzo Pellegrini in midfield, while Stefan El Shaarawy and Sardar Azmoun, instead of Paulo Dybala, flanking Romelu Lukaku upfront.
The game
The contest started in a lively manner. Roma threatened…
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Author : Veselin Trajkovic
Publish date : 2024-05-10 09:04:57
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