EUROPEAN LEAGUE
PRELIMINARY, RETURN
BAYER LEVERKUSEN (Germany)-AS ROMA (Italy) 2-2 (0-1)
Leverkusen, BayArena. Led by: Danny Makkelie (Hessel Steegstra, Jan de Vries) – hollandok
LEVERKUSEN: Kovár – J. Frimpong (Stanisic, 90), Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapié – G. Xhaka, E. Palacios – A. Adli, J. Hofmann (Wirtz, 81), Grimaldo (Kosounou, 90) – Hlozek ( Schick, 74.). Head Coach: Xabi Alonso
ROMA: Szvilar – G. Mancini, Spinazzola (Zalewski, 21.), Ndicka, Angelino (Smalling, 81.) – Lo. Pellegrini (T. Abraham, 81.), L. Paredes, Cristante – Azmun (Bove, 72.), R. Lukaku, El Shaarawy. Head coach: Daniele De Rossi
Scorer: G. Mancini (83rd – own goal), Stanisic (90th+7th), or L. Paredes (43, 66 – both from 11)
Passed on: a Leverkusen, 4–2-es with aggregation.
SUMMARY
Leverkusen already had half a foot in the finals of the Europa League in Dublin, having won a two-goal advantage in the first leg of the match at the Stadio Olimpico as a guest of AS Roma. The Italian team is not coming to Germany to win anyway, it has lost its last six away matches at the home of Bundesliga clubs, having previously won in Hamburg in December 2000 in the UEFA Cup. The first half started with a great opportunity for the guests, Romelu Lukaku was inches away from getting a shot, and then the “pharmaceutical factories” gradually took control.
The meeting had quite a peppery atmosphere, the players carved each other up, everyone got out of the give-and-take. In the 29th minute, Exequiel Palacios hit the right post, and Mile Szvilar performed four feats until the break, thus keeping his Italian team’s hopes alive. Later it turned out that his parade was of great importance, because before the break, in the midst of Leverkusen’s pressure, Roma got a penalty, and Leandro Paredes confidently converted the penalty.
The German team, which experimented with 17 shots on goal in the first half, did not lose momentum even after the turn, went forward to equalize, and worked out their chances one after the other. However, Roma were awarded a penalty after the turn, this time Adam Hlozek made a mistake after Jonathan Tah, and Paredes was ruthless again. At that time, it seemed that Leverkusen’s unbeaten streak could really come to an end this time, and in addition, reaching the final could be in danger, but in the beginning, Gianluca Mancini put the ball into his own goal with an unlucky move after a corner, so Xabi Alonso’s team was able to advance again. If that wasn’t enough, of course the slushy came, in the 97th minute, Josip Stanisic shot the long shot with a teacher’s move, setting the final score at 2-2. Leverkusen kept their undefeated streak of the season in their 49th match, breaking Benfica’s previous record of 48 matches. Unbelievable, but true!
The atmosphere was tense… (Photo: AFP)
You can watch Leverkusen’s equalizer by clicking here!
