Europa League round-up: Roma edge Leverkusen and Juve earn late draw
Roma 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Roma will take a narrow advantage into their UEFA Europa League second leg against Bayer Leverkusen after a 1-0 win that ended a nine-match unbeaten run away from home for Xabi Alonso’s men.
Usually, the hosts would apply the early pressure on such a grand occasion, but it was Die Werkself who took control early and almost silenced the home crowd early on.
Both Robert Andrich and Florian Wirtz had chances to shoot from the edge of the box but couldn’t take advantage, before the momentum began to swing back towards Roma and they came desperately close to taking the lead after 18 minutes.
Roger Ibanez powered a free header toward the far corner from a free-kick, but he was denied by Lukas Hradecky who made a fine flying stop and the rebound was scrambled into the side-netting.
Set-pieces offered the most threatening situation for Roma as the half wore on, but they couldn’t find a way to break the deadlock and the rest of the first half fizzled out with minimal goalmouth action.
The second half started in a similar vein, with Roma threatening from a dead ball situation just after the restart, but Edmond Tapsoba produced a fine piece of defending to divert the ball away from Ibañez who looked set to break the deadlock.
The opener finally came just after the hour mark from an unlikely source in Edoardo Bove, who scored his first European goal of the campaign.
Tammy Abraham showed skill and power to force another good save from Hradecky, but this time the Leverkusen stopper could only divert the ball back into the danger area for Bove to stroke it into the bottom corner.
Instead of pushing for a second, Roma became noticeably defensive and dropped deeper into their own half, perhaps wary of the visitors’ devastating speed on the break.
Leverkusen were lacking their usual verve though, appearing happy to settle for a narrow margin of defeat rather than chasing a goal.
They weren’t without chances however, and their best opening fell to Jeremie Frimpong who had the chance to profit from a defensive mix-up, but his effort was crucially blocked on the line by Bryan Cristante.
Consequently, Leverkusen will need to find a way to overcome Jose Mourinho’s men in the second leg after a cagey affair in Rome, as the Portuguese looks to guide the Giallorossi to back-to-back European titles and into the Champions League.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Edmond Tapsoba (Bayer Leverkusen)
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Juventus 1-1 Sevilla
Juventus recovered from a goal behind to rescue a last-gasp 1-1 draw in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League semi-final clash with Sevilla, as the Italian side extended their impressive record of never having lost a home Europa League fixture.
Having moved one step closer to UEFA Champions League qualification after a 2-0 victory over Atalanta at the weekend, Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri admitted his side were in a “mentally good” state ahead of a blockbuster clash with Europa League specialists Sevilla.
Roared on by the fervent home support, it was the Turin-based outfit who started on the front foot, as Filip Kostic and Dusan Vlahovic failed to hit the target with a pair of early opportunities.
Despite a cagey start, the visitors gradually gained a foothold in the contest, and after Lucas Ocampos spurned a glorious chance to put the Spanish side ahead, they duly found the breakthrough in the 26th minute.
A superb, defence-splitting ball from Oliver Torres released Ocampos free on the right flank, and the Argentine international cleverly picked out Youssef En-Nesyri, who dispatched a clinical finish beyond Wojciech Szczesny to give the six-time winners a crucial lead.
Armed with the momentum, Sevilla went in pursuit of a second before the break, however Ivan Rakitic’s powerful long-range strike was expertly tipped over by Szczesny, as Juventus avoided further damage going into the interval.
That allowed the Old Lady to regain some semblance of composure, as Allegri introduced Federico Chiesa and Samuel Iling-Junior in the hope of injecting some added impetus into the hosts’ attacking play.
While Juventus showed definite signs of improvement in the early stages of the second half, clear-cut chances came at a premium, as Sevilla maintained their slender advantage going into the final 20 minutes.
Desperate to avoid a first-ever home defeat in the competition, Juventus continued to probe for a late equaliser, and their persistence was finally rewarded in the seventh minute of stoppage time when Federico Gatti headed home from close range to set up a fascinating return leg in Seville next week.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nemanja Gudelj (Sevilla)
