Leverkusen on the edge of the Europa League final, Marseille and Atalanta in the balance

NOS Football•yesterday, 10:55 PM

Bayer Leverkusen has taken a big step towards the final of the Europa League. The Germans won the first semi-final match 2-0 at AS Roma. The other fixture in the semi-finals, Olympique Marseille – Atalanta, ended in a 1-1 draw.

The returns of both semi-finals are on Thursday, May 9 at 9:00 PM.

It was a lively first half at the Stadio Olimpico between AS Roma and Leverkusen. The game went back and forth with both teams creating chances.

For Roma, Romelu Lukaku was close to the opening goal, but his powerful header hit the post. On the other hand, Jeremie Frimpong found himself in a promising position.

After a lightning-fast switch from Leverkusen, the Dutch international got the ball in his feet and advanced towards the goal. However, Roma keeper Mile Svilar had narrowed his goal well, preventing Frimpong from getting the ball between the posts.

A mistake by Rick Karsdorp led to the first goal of the match. The Dutch right back simply handed the ball to Álex Grimaldo, who in turn found Florian Wirtz. Wirtz then had no trouble hitting the ball against the ropes and gave Leverkusen the lead.

Roma were no match for Leverkusen, but it took until the 73rd minute for the Germans to take a bigger lead. Robert Andrich had a beautiful long shot, putting Leverkusen at 0-2. Svilar was in trouble under the crossbar.

In the last minute of injury time, Tammy Abraham had an unmissable chance, but he still missed. In front of a goal abandoned by the keeper, the Englishman headed over.

In the other semi-final, which was between Olympique Marseille and Atalanta, the score was tied after the first 45 minutes. Atalanta, who had reached the semi-finals at the expense of Liverpool, had the best of the game and took the lead after ten minutes.

Teun Koopmeiners had a nice pass to former PEC striker Gianluca Scamacca, who finished well. But where Atalanta, with Koopmeiners and Marten de Roon in the starting line-up, played better, the home team perhaps had the best chances.

And the Vélodrome exploded when Chancel Mbemba hit the inside of the post in the twentieth minute. The goal was not found in the second half, so the halftime score also became the final score: 1-1.