Bayer Leverkusen-Union Saint-Gilloise is a match valid for the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals and is played Thursday at 9 p.m.: TV, predictions.
Bayer Leverkusen’s season can very well be divided into two sections. A disastrous first part, with the Rossoneri even finishing in the lower reaches of the Bundesliga standings and mired for a time even in the relegation zone. In the second, on the other hand, Werkself is instead traveling at the pace of a team fighting for the title and can still hit one of the top four places, being only -5 from fourth-placed Leipzig.
The protagonist of this impressive turnaround has a first and last name: Xabi Alonso. In his first major experience as a coach, the former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich midfielder is not disappointing expectations, quite the contrary. There is his hand in the rebirth of a team that is certainly not lacking in talent but that with Gerardo Seoane on the bench seemed to have gone astray. Bayer Leverkusen, which scored its seventh consecutive victory last Saturday thanks to a 3-1 win over a direct competitor Eintracht Frankfurt, is still in the Europa League race as well. Having been relegated from the Champions League, it first got rid of Monaco in the play-offs for access to the round of 16 – it came out on penalties at the end of a resounding comeback – in the next round it eliminated the Hungarians of Ferencvaros without any major problems, beating them 2-0 in both the first leg and the return leg. Shining brightly is the starlet of Florian Wirtz, a 2003-class fantasist who returned in January from a nasty injury that caused him to miss almost an entire year. Since setting foot on the field again, he has scored three goals and provided eight assists in 15 official matches.
Another German for Saint-Gilloise
Bayer Leverkusen has been drawn in the part of the scoreboard that is on paper less complicated and in which José Mourinho’s Roma is also located. Should the Giallorossi pass the round, they would meet in the semifinals precisely the winner of the challenge between the Germans and the surprise of this edition of the Europa League, the Belgians of Union Saint-Gilloise.
Union Saint-Gilloise players
A real feat for the yellow-blue club, which until two seasons ago played in the lower categories of the Belgian football system. Karel Geraerts and his men want to continue to impress. And counting on the goals of their gunner Boniface they will try to overturn the odds against another German team. In the round of 16, in fact, they knocked off the better-ranked Union Berlin, the Bundesliga’s third force, with an aggregate score of 6-3. Saint-Gilloise is currently second in the Pro League just two points behind leading Genk when the regular season is two days away. Geraerts will be able to field the best possible lineup, while Alonso, in addition to Schick – the former Roma man may have ended his season prematurely – is struggling with the doubtful Hincapié.
The prediction
Bayer Leverkusen, dragged by its young talents, is incredibly consistent in the last period, in which it is proving that it does not suffer from the double commitment. Union Saint-Gilloise is not off to a beaten start, but compared to Union Berlin, whatever the current Bundesliga standings may say, it will necessarily have to step up a level to accomplish another feat. Bayer favored in a match of at least three total goals, clashing two teams that score with some frequency.
Bayer Leverkusen-Union Saint-Gilloise likely lineups
- BAYER LEVERKUSEN (3-4-2-1): Hradecky; Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba; Frimpong, Palacios, Andrich, Bakker; Diaby, Wirtz; Adli.
- UNION SAINT-GILLOISE (3-5-2): Moris; Kandouss, Burgess, Van der Heyden; Neiuwkoop, Amani, Lynen, Teuma, Lapoussin; Adingra, Boniface.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 3-1
