Europa League semi-finals: Roma clinch final berth, Sevilla down Juve in extra time
Bayer Leverkusen 0 Roma 0
Roma advanced to the 2023 Europa League final after they followed up their semi-final first-leg win against Bayer 04 Leverkusen with a goalless draw at BayArena, meaning the Giallorossi reach the competition’s climax despite having not scored a single knockout-stage away goal.
With a guaranteed place in next season’s Champions League on offer for the winner of this tournament, a slender 1-0 first-leg victory for Jose Mourinho’s side set up this showpiece event between two sides in danger of missing out on their domestic top-sixes.
With a deficit to make up, Leverkusen started with all of their characteristic pace and dynamism and almost squared things up when Moussa Diaby raced away and smashed against the bar with under 15 minutes gone.
Despite being a former student of Mourinho at Real Madrid, the stark contrast of Xabi Alonso’s playstyle was on full display. However, there was a hint of frantic desperation about Leverkusen’s forward play, and Roma had learned their lesson from Diaby’s early chance, striving to preserve their lead with a deeper block.
There was nevertheless no shortage of attempts for Leverkusen, but a couple of long-range efforts from Kerem Demirbay were the best that Die Werkself had to show for the opening 45 minutes.
As is so often the case in German stadia, the stands were alight with the red of Leverkusen after the break, but the home fans were hoping that the likes of Florian Wirtz and Sardar Azmoun could produce fireworks on the pitch instead.
In fact, the Iranian forward was the most dangerous outlet for the home side, going close on multiple occasions, but Roma’s game plan was executed perfectly. Searching for an 11th win in 12 European knockout ties, including last year’s Europa Conference League triumph, they completely suffocated Leverkusen’s momentum.
The resolute backline of the Italians eked out the result in typical Mourinho fashion, and the final whistle was greeted by incredible scenes of celebration in the away end.
While there was disappointment for Leverkusen, Roma fans will now dream of a second European title in as many years when they face either Juventus or Sevilla for this competition’s thrilling culmination in Budapest in two weeks’ time.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nemanja Matic (AS Roma)
Sevilla 2 Juventus 1 (A.E.T.)
Sevilla substitute Erik Lamela nodded home an extra-time winner to seal a hard-fought victory over Juventus and forge a path to the Europa League final while extending the Spanish side’s imperious unbeaten streak in the competition to 18 home matches.
Still wounded from letting their one-goal lead slip at the death in Turin last week, Sevilla came racing out of the blocks on home turf, buoyed by a sea of bouncing red shirts at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.
But for all their early pressure, the first chance of many in a jam-packed first period fell to the visitors, when the reverse fixture’s 97th-minute hero Federico Gatti stung the palms of Yassine Bounou with a bullet header.
Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was forced to match his Sevilla counterpart minutes later, and he rose to the challenge by athletically clawing away Lucas Ocampos’ near-post effort before a trio of high-quality chances fell to the Bianconeri.
Angel Di Maria had the first, and most definitely the worst of the bunch, as his audacious scoop drifted embarrassingly off target from close range. Powerful attacking play from Moise Kean then saw him drive into space and fire off the base of the far post, and while Adrien Rabiot found the net after latching onto a cut-back, initial suspicions of offside were promptly confirmed by the assistant’s flag.
Although the contest continued to ebb and flow after the break, the telling chances once again landed predominantly at Juve’s feet, with Rabiot’s left-footed strike and Gleison Bremer’s header each flying a whisker wide of the upright.
As the hour mark came and went, fresh legs from the bench began to make their mark, and Massimiliano Allegri’s side finally drew first blood through Dusan Vlahovic, who showed a sharp mind and a cool head to dispatch a skilful chip over the onrushing Bounou.
But Europa League specialists Sevilla always find a way, and it took them only six minutes to do so through a substitute of their own, Suso, whose pinpoint curler from outside the box evened up the tie once more.
Extra time was ultimately required after a valiant Szczesny tipped Youssef En-Nesyri’s looping attempt to safety at the death, and Lamela soon succeeded where his team-mate failed by arrowing a header of his own into the bottom corner, sparking bedlam among the raucous home fans.
A second booking for Marcos Acuna reduced the hosts to 10 men in the final minutes, but the looming twist never came for Juve, and Sevilla are now only one game away from widening their lead atop the all-time charts with a seventh Europa League title.
They will line up opposite Roma for the privilege in Budapest later this month and the Spaniards will surely fancy their chances, too, having lost only one of their 12 matches since Jose Luis Mendilibar took charge.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Yassine Bounou (Sevilla)