EUROPEAN LEAGUE
PRELIMINARY, FIRST MATCH
OLYMPIQUE MARSEILLE (France) – ATALANTA (Italy) 1-1 (1-1)
Marseille, Stade Vélodrome, 64 475 viewer. Led by: Daniel Siebert (German)
MARSEILLE: Pau Lopez – Clauss (Merlin, 65.), Mbemba, Balerdi, Murillo (Unahi, 72.), Harit (I. Ndiaye, 72.), Veretout, Kondogbia (I. Sarr (Moumbagna, 65.), Aubameyang, Luis Henry. Head coach: Jean-Louis Gasset
ATALANTA: Women – Scalvini, Djimsiti, Kolasinac (Pasalic, 17.) – Zappacosta (Hateboer, 85.), De Roon, Ederson, Ruggeri – Koopmeiners – De Ketelaere (Alekszej Mirancsuk, 85.), Scamacca (Lookman, 59.). Head coach: Gian Piero Gasperini
Scorer: Snake (20.), ill. Scamacca (11.)
The other semi-final
AS Roma (Italian)–Bayer Leverkusen (German) 0–2 (Wirtz 28., Andrich 73.)
Atalanta is preparing for its first Europa League semi-final, which in its history has only been able to reach the top four in the KEK on the international stage, back in the 1987-1988 season. Meanwhile, Marseille started the duel with the aim of reaching the final of this cup series for the fourth time, as it was already a finalist in 1999, 2004 and 2018, but it has not yet managed to win the El, or as it used to be called UEFA Cup.
OM started more agile, but the Bergamo players had the advantage at the beginning of the match: Scam took advantage of the rebound to score his sixth goal of the current Europa League season. The home team reacted well to the goal they received, and the equalizer soon came Mbemba who kicked a goal off the goal post from 23 meters. The picture of the match was even in the continuation, but a great situation arose only in front of the French, but the leader of El’s goalscoring list, Aubameyang, missed the jump at the end of the game.
The second half also brought a good pace and a struggle of equal forces, but almost only the home team managed to create serious situations. First, Sarr scored a low goal, then Unahi hit the crossbar from a distance, while Moumbagna almost took advantage of a mistake by Musso, who was uncertain outside the penalty area, but none of them could score a (valid) goal. On the visiting side, Lookman was more active, and at the end of the match, Mirancsuk’s shot narrowly missed the goal of the Marseille team, but the Italians’ energy was largely consumed by the defense, and they did not want to risk it, they seemed satisfied with the draw.
Overall, OM was closer to victory based on the second innings, but failed to decide the match, so the duel remained completely open. By the way, Marseille is still unbeaten at home, and Atalanta is unbeaten away in the current Europa League season. Continuation next Thursday in Bergamo. 1–1
