Bayer Leverkusen take on the visitors AS Roma in the second leg of UEFA Europa League semifinals. First leg result: 2-0. The match will be played on Thursday, April 9th at BayArena (Leverkusen).
Bayer will try to achieve international success. The Aspirin team has long been considered strong but unstable and even unlucky. But with Xabi Alonso, who is having his first full season (last season, the Spaniard was called a fireman and he did well, although not brilliantly), history has been rewritten. For the first time in Leverkusen, they moved to the silver salad bowl, which they won in a unique style, without defeats – and at the same time reached the cup final, where this month they just need to beat Kaiserslautern from the second division of Germany. If there was anything the Germans could spoil their statistics, it was in the Europa League. While they easily passed the group stage, the rematch with Karabakh in the round of 16 brought heart-stopping matches, but in the end, the favorite, conceding first, managed to draw in Baku and win at home. They later defeated West Ham at the BayArena, but even in London, they managed to avoid defeat in the final stages. In Italy, it was not just a victory – they brought it to a solid 2-0, de facto killing the intrigue.
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Roma got something out of their collaboration with Mourinho. Jose won their first international trophy in the form of the Conference League for them and could have added a more prestigious Europa League to it, but in the 2023 final, they lost to Sevilla on penalties. But by this winter, the atmosphere in Rome had become so toxic that the prolonged dismissal of the Special One became the impetus, the push. Riding this wave, De Rossi sharply improved matters in Serie A, and in the Europa League, after a strained, penalty shootout win over Feyenoord, the Italians surprised, easily knocking out both Brighton and Milan. But by the end of April, problems arose, such as losing to a direct competitor in the battle for 4th place in Serie A – Bologna. And there, Atalanta had already caught up with them in points. So it's not particularly surprising that against the Germans in the European competition, they even conceded twice at home without any response.
In the Champions League, the sides are equal: in 2004, in the group stage, Bayer collected 4 points (win at home, draw away), and 11 years later, the rematch under the same conditions was won by Roma. And, most importantly, the Giallorossi were slightly stronger in the semifinals of the last Europa League: 1-0 at home, a goalless draw in Leverkusen. Aspirin are clearly stronger now, playing at home, and, as the 5-1 against Eintracht shows, they are still in high spirits. We expect their victory with a handicap of -1.
Prediction for the match: Bayern Leverkusen to win with -1.0 handicap.
