May 19, (THEWILL) – Bayer Leverkusen suffered a setback in their quest to reach their first European final since 2002 as they exited the competition after a barren draw against Jose Mourinho’s Roma in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final.
The 1-0 loss last Thursday in Rome gave the advantage to the Italian side as the hosts failed to find the net regardless of how much they tried. Last Thursday’s loss was beyond the scoreline for Leverkusen as both Andrich and Kossounou sustained injuries that meant the end of the season for both.
Despite that drawback, Leverkusen put up a dominant performance throughout the 98 minutes only to be thwarted by Roma’s solid defensive efforts, which in typical Mourinho fashion proved to be the winning strategy. Roma had their chances too with captain Lorenzo Pellegrini missing a shot just wide within the first minute. However, as the game progressed, Leverkusen took control. Diaby struck the crossbar with a powerful strike in the 13th minute and Rui Patricio was tested with a long-range shot from Demirbay shortly after.
The injury to Leonardo Spinazzola in the 34th minute was a blow to Roma, but Leverkusen’s offensive output diminished as the match wore on. Azmoun and Demirbay managed to create further scoring opportunities, but were unable to beat the busy Portuguese goalkeeper.
Despite dominating possession with 73% and outshooting their opponents 13 to 1, Leverkusen failed to find the crucial equalising goal, allowing Roma to advance. On Sunday, Leverkusen will play Monchengladbach while Roma will play Salernitana the following day.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
