The UEFA Europa League 2023/24 have been interesting as the last four of the tournaments remain. On Thursday night, AS Roma hosted Bayer Leverkusen in the 1st leg of the semi-final at the Stadio Olimpico. The Italian side after beating AC Milan in the quarter-finals gained a lot more confidence, on the other hand Leverkusen after being on an impressive 46 game unbeaten run and won the Bundesliga as well started game as favourites.
The game was end to end, with both chances having their chances, Romelu Lukaku had the best chance for the home side as his header struck the crossbar. Roma piled on the pressure but was well managed by Leverkusen as they broke the deadlock in the 28th minute after a school-boy error from Rick Karsdorp which was well tracked by Alex Grimaldo who passed the ball to Florian Wirtz as the latter pushed the ball in the back of the net.
The second half began with Roma pressing for the equaliser but they could not find one and was wide open in the counter after Robert Andrich who was trying desperately to score from outside the box was successful in making it 2-0 for the side in the 73rd minute of the game.
Marseille makes comeback against Atalanta
On the other side of Europe Olympique Marseille played against Atalanta BC at the Stade Velodrome, France. The French club had a horrible season as they are 7th placed in the league however they defeated SL Benfica in the quarter-finals. Atalanta came out as underdogs in the quarters as they beat Liverpool in the knockout stages to qualify for the last four.
The match began in shocking terms for the home fans as Atalanta’s Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring in the 11th minute of the game, although the French club responded quickly as Chancel Mbemba equalised in the 19th minute of the game. The second half was also evenly poised as both sides could not be separated after the end of 90 minutes as they had all to play in the second leg.
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