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This time unlucky: Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen
Photo: Federico Gambarini / dpa
Bayer Leverkusen missed out on a place in the final of the Europa League. Despite a good performance, the Bundesliga club did not go beyond a 0-0 draw in the semi-final second leg against AS Roma. Coach Xabi Alonso's team lost 0-1 in the first leg a week ago.
Roma's opponent in the final in Budapest on 31 May had not yet been determined. The second semi-final between Juventus and Sevilla FC went into extra time. In the final, the successor to last year's winner Eintracht Frankfurt is being sought. In addition, the winner of the Europa League will receive a starting place in the Champions League, provided that the team has not qualified for the competition via the league.
Leverkusen faced a very defensive opponent, Roma were well organised, as you know it from the teams of coach José Mourinho. Therefore, it only became really dangerous when things were done quickly. Just like in the twelfth minute, when Florian Wirtz played a steep pass to Moussa Diaby in a switching situation and the striker hit the crossbar from an acute angle.
Bayer dominated the game and were significantly improved compared to the previous week at 0:1. However, the team did not risk too much, possibly also because defensive specialist Robert Andrich (metatarsal fracture) was missing an important pillar and they themselves tried to be safe. Completely harmless was Roma, who with only 45 goals in Serie A is by far the weakest offensive of the Italian top teams.
It developed into a game with few scoring chances and many interruptions. The Italians were always looking for contact with their opponents, and the Bayer players were also infected by the intensity, so that many small fouls disrupted the flow of the game. From the second half at the latest, the ball rested more and more frequently.
Nevertheless, the Bundesliga club remained the more determined team. In the vicinity of the penalty area, Bayer showed many successful combinations, only the last pass or the precision in the finish were missing. Sardar Azmoun missed the first dangerous action of the second half with an unplaced header (65th). Seconds later, Kerem Demirbay missed the lead with a long-range shot. Ten minutes later, Jonathan Tah fired from distance – also without success (78th).
Bayer increased the pressure and almost got rewarded. With a shot from the turn, Azmoun missed the lead by only centimeters (80th). The opponent finally did nothing more for the game, instead players from the Mourinho team kept lying on the ground. There were eight minutes of injury time, but no goal was scored.
For Bayer, the remaining two league games are still about sixth place in the Bundesliga, which entitles them to participate in the Conference League.
Scott