Roma-Bayer Leverkusen is a match valid for the first leg of the Europa League semifinals and is played Thursday at 9 p.m.: free-to-air TV, lineups, predictions.
José Mourinho wants an encore. The Portuguese coach, who could leave Italy in the summer according to rumors these days that have him close to Psg, dreams of giving Roma another continental title after winning last year’s Conference League.
The Giallorossi are now a certainty outside their own borders: they are about to play in their third European semifinal in three years. They had already finished in the top four in the Europa League two years ago, when Paulo Fonseca was still at the team’s helm. The cups, it seems, inspire the Capitolini, who in the league, on the other hand, could miss their fourth-place goal again. On the continental stage, however, Roma changes its skin. Making themselves a tough opponent for anyone: Mourinho’s men may not play spectacular soccer but facing them is by no means a walk in the park, far from it. Salzburg, Real Sociedad and Feyenoord, three teams that got the worst of it in the double confrontation with the Giallorossi, know something about it. Pellegrini and his teammates were able to come back against the Austrians and Dutchmen after losing the first leg away, while against the Basques they put things right already at the Stadio Olimpico, where so far in the knockout stage Roma has never lost, scoring eight goals in total and conceding only one.
Leverkusen last hurdle before Budapest
How frightening, however, in the quarterfinal return match against Feyenoord, which had managed to equalize in the very last minutes before a Paulo Dybala spell sent the match into extra time, where Roma then went on to dominate (4-1).
Hlozek
The last hurdle to overcome before the Budapest final, where Mourinho and his men would find one between Juventus and Sevilla, is called Bayer Leverkusen. The Lusitanian coach, in light of the latest results in the league – Roma have scored only two points in four games and last Saturday surrendered 2-0 to Inter in their direct clash – may decide to focus exclusively on the Europa League. In Serie A, in fact, the Giallorossi have slipped to seventh place, – 5 from fourth. Lifting the cup in the Magyar land risks being the only way to snatch a pass for the next Champions League even for Xabi Alonso’s team, which in the Bundesliga is lagging behind the fourth (-8) due to the very bad first part of the season, in which the Aspirins had even ended up fighting not to relegate. With the arrival of the Basque coach last fall, the turnaround came, but the unexpected loss to Cologne last Friday, the first in all competitions since February, made the comeback more complicated.
Total emergency for Mourinho
Bayer Leverkusen, “relegated” in November from the Champions League, in the play-offs for access to the round of 16 needed penalties to eliminate Monaco.
In contrast, the double-headers with Ferencvaros and Union Saint-Gilloise, to whom Wirtz and his teammates rifled a total of nine goals. Xabi Alonso will have almost everyone available in the match at the Olimpico, with the exception of Lunev and former Schick. The chosen form is a 3-4-3 that enhances Diaby’s speed and relies on the qualities of the talented Wirtz. For Mourinho, on the contrary, it is always total emergency: Dybala is not at his best and will start from the bench, while Smalling, Karsdorp, Kumbulla, Llorente and El Shaarawy will be absent. His Roma, therefore, will have its men counted.
The Prediction
Roma and Bayer Leverkusen have faced each other four times, all in the Champions League (2004-05 and 2015-16). The tally is two wins on each side and two draws, but the common denominator is goals, which have never been lacking in the four challenges. That should be the case this time as well: with such a retooled defense, Roma will have a hard time keeping the goal unbeaten against a team that plays such gutsy and pragmatic soccer as Leverkusen. However, we believe that the Giallorossi will manage to avoid defeat.
The probable formations of Roma-Bayer Leverkusen
- ROMA (3-5-2): Rui Patrício; Mancini, Cristante, Ibañez; Çelik, Bove, Matić, Pellegrini, Spinazzola; Belotti, Abraham.
- BAYER LEVERKUSEN (3-4-3): Hradecky; Tapsoba, Tah, Hincapié; Frimpong, Palacios, Andrich, Bakker; Diaby, Adli, Wirtz.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-1
