Leverkusen Secures Draw (2-2) with Roma Advance to Europa League Final
Bayer Leverkusen rallied late against Roma to secure a crucial draw, preserving their unbeaten record and booking a spot in the Europa League final.
The match ended 2-2, with Leverkusen advancing 4-2 on aggregate. This victory sets up a face-off with another Italian contender in the final showdown scheduled for May 22 in Dublin.
Leverkusen not only made it to the Europa League final and continued its quest for a treble, but it also managed to salvage a 2-2 draw against Roma thanks to a late goal from substitute Josip Stanisic.
Following two penalties from Leandro Paredes that put the score 2-0 on the evening and 2-2 on aggregate, both appeared to be in jeopardy for the second leg of the semifinal. However, Stanisic’s equalizer and an own goal by Roma defender Gianluca Mancini eight minutes from time allowed Leverkusen to extend their unbeaten run to 49 games.
Leverkusen won 4-2 overall and will play another Italian team in Dublin on May 22nd. Atalanta defeated Marseille 3-0 to win 4-1 overall.
“I have the chills!” German television RTL was informed by Granit Xhaka. This is the kind of atmosphere you dream of. Like thus, you dream about games. It’s amazing to equalize right before the finish and get to the final when you’re a child and desire to be in these games.
The fact that Xabi Alonso’s squad, which has already won the Bundesliga title and advanced to the German Cup final, managed to preserve its perfect record just thirty seconds from losing was another unlikely conclusion to an incredible season.
Leverkusen’s equalizer was its 17th goal of the season in all competitions scored 90 minutes or later, and it was also the team’s third comeback from a 2-0 deficit in the second half of Europa League qualifying matches.
After losing the first leg last week, Roma was aware of the challenge ahead of them, and their star forward Paulo Dybala was only healthy enough to start on the bench due to an injury he suffered during the weekend against Juventus.
Leverkusen drew close in the 29th minute and had multiple opportunities to almost end the contest. Piero Hincapie received a free kick that was sent over the edge of the box. His ball struck the left post, bounced off Mile Svilar, the Roma goalkeeper, and crossed the goal before Evan Ndicka cleared it.
Instead, Roma took the lead two minutes from the half thanks to a penalty kick from Paredes after it was determined that Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah had brought down visiting forward Sardar Azmoun, who is now on loan from the club.
Just moments before, Svilar made an incredible double save, and the Roma goalie maintained his heroics in the second half. In the sixty-sixth minute, Roma was given another penalty after Leverkusen winger Adam Hlozek unintentionally touched the ball with his fingertips after a corner went off Bryan Cristante’s head. Paredes held his composure to fire the penalty into the bottom left corner and send the visiting fans into raptures.
Just as it appeared as if the match was heading for extra time, Leverkusen scored the goal it needed to proceed as Alex Grimaldo’s corner from the right bounced off Mancini at the far post and trickled over the line.
After Stanisic entered the game in the ninetieth minute, Leverkusen, who had previously made it a habit to preserve its unbeaten record with stoppage time goals, left it even later than usual before the player cut inside and fired into the bottom far corner in the seventh minute of added time.
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When asked if that was the most significant event of his career, Stanisic responded, “Definitely one of them,” to RTL. “I think the fact that we rallied and ended up drawing 2-2 just goes to show what kind of team we are.”
“It’s even nicer this way, but we really wanted to get to the final, so I don’t think we would have cared in the end if we lost and still advanced.”
Atalanta-Marseille
Atalanta advanced to its first European final after eliminating Liverpool in the quarterfinals with a commanding win over Marseille, the defending champion.
In the second leg in Bergamo, Ademola Lookman gave the home team the lead after 30 minutes with a shot that was deflected into the net by Marseille captain Samuel Gigot. In the second half, Lookman set up Matteo Ruggeri to extend the lead, and El Bilal Toure, the substitute, completed the score in stoppage time.
A 1988 Cup Winners’ Cup semifinal appearance was Atalanta’s greatest accomplishment in Europe to date.
Europa Conference League
at the third division, Olympiakos defeated Aston Villa 2-0 at Piraeus to set up a final in the Greek capital versus Fiorentina, the runners-up from the previous season.
Olympiakos, which had defeated Panathinaikos 4-2 in the first leg in England, went on to win 6-2 overall and become just the second Greek team to ever make it to a major European championship final. Villa was aiming for their first European Final since their 1982 Cup victory.
Ayoub El Kaabi, who scored a hat trick for Olympiakos at Villa Park, once again stole the show with both goals, putting him two goals ahead of anybody else in the standings.
After falling to West Ham 2-1 in Prague last year, Fiorentina managed to hold Club Brugge to a 1-1 draw in Belgium on Wednesday, which was sufficient to send them to their second consecutive Europa Conference League final.
On May 29, there will be a final in Athens.
