“Bayer Leverkusen Takes 0-1 Mortgage into Europa League Semi-Final Second Leg Against Italian Opponents”

Compared to the 2-1 defeat in the derby against Cologne in the Bundesliga, Bayer’s coach made three changes to his starting XI. Odilon Kossounou, Exequiel Palacios and Adam Hlozek replaced Mitchel Bakker, Nadiem Amiri and Amine Adli in the starting line-up. Karim Bellarabi tore a muscle fiber during the final training session. The season is over for him. It is uncertain whether the longest-serving player in the squad will play another game for the Werkself. His contract expires in the summer.

The fog of Tifosi’s almost obligatory pyrotechnic deposits at the start had not yet cleared when the hosts’ fans saw the first good chance of the game. Piero Hincapie found his way up the left flank and made a strong push before playing the ball to Robert Andrich behind the defensive back. The Leverkusen player didn’t get the ball right – and so the shot was easy prey for Rome keeper Rui Patricio. Shortly thereafter, it was Florian Wirtz who tried his luck with Hlozek after a solo and one-two, but his low shot from eleven or twelve yards went just wide of the left post (7′).

A good start for the Rhinelanders, who seemed unimpressed by the scenery in the Stadio Olimpico di Roma – that is, where in 1990 team boss Franz Beckenbauer accepted Germany’s World Cup title with his hands in his pockets after beating Argentina 1-0.

José Mourinho didn’t like the initial phase of his team, he paced back and forth in the coaching zone early on, cursing. Alonso, his former player from their time together at Real Madrid, followed the events rather stoically at first. However, he had to watch as the Romans got into the game better. A foul by Jonathan Tah on Tammy Abraham resulted in a free-kick from the left, which Roger Ibanez found in the six-yard box. Bayer keeper Lukas Hradecky parried his header from close range with a fabulous reflex (19′). Now the hosts were in charge.

After a good half hour, Kossounou suddenly grabbed his back right thigh after an actually unsuspicious movement. The central defender had to go, probably with a muscular injury. Bakker came on for him and Hincapie took over the vacant post on the left in the back three. When Frimpong had to be treated briefly after a duel with Leonardo Spinazzola, but was then able to continue, the flow of the game was completely gone. That was not necessarily inconvenient for Bayer to regroup and bring calm to the lawn.

The 63,132 spectators, a little more than 2,500 of them from Leverkusen, did not experience a high-class game, but it was an exciting one. Rom came out better from the dressing room, pushed for the lead, but there weren’t really clear chances to score for the time being – until the 63rd minute. Hradecky parried Abraham’s shot in the penalty area, but at the feet of Edoardo Bove, whose follow-up shot hit the net unstoppably. Shortly thereafter, Hradecky fended off an attempt by Andrea Belotti from a tight angle. Bove could have benefited from this again, but this time the Romans missed (67′).

Now the main concern for the Werkself was not to concede the second goal as well, because Alonso’s team didn’t do much offensively – apart from Jeremie Frimpong’s big chance just before the final whistle, which Bryan Cristante blocked with his chest just before the line became (87th). Overall, Rome defended as cleverly as they were hard-nosed, but Leverkusen still achieved the minimum goal of a result that could be caught up in a home game.