The Bundesliga title. The file 46-match unbeaten run. The 3-0 shutout of Bayern Munich.
Forget about all of that for now.
Bayer Leverkusen has been occupied with its subsequent opponent for a complete 12 months.
The German membership might be in search of revenge when it visits Roma within the first leg of the Europa League semifinals on Thursday — a rematch from final season on the identical stage when Jose Mourinho’s Giallorossi superior to the ultimate.
“We were so close to go to the final last season and we didn’t like the way we went out,” Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah informed AP in an interview. “So I was actually hoping to play against them again.”
UEFA Europa League semifinals 2023-24 fixture
UEFA Europa League semifinals 2023-24 fixture
Last May, Roma beat Leverkusen 1-0 on the Stadio Olimpico within the first leg earlier than a scoreless attract Leverkusen. The loss in Rome was Leverkusen’s final defeat in Europe and penultimate loss throughout all competitions earlier than a 3-0 defeat to Bochum within the remaining spherical of final season’s Bundesliga.
“From the first Europa League game against (Swedish team) Hacken, we spoke about our experience in Rome and now we’re back in the same situation, semifinal vs. Roma,” Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso stated. “Hopefully we can use this experience well.”
Leverkusen’s streak of 46 video games with no loss is a file throughout Europe’s “big five” leagues.
But that hasn’t stopped Daniele De Rossi — who changed Mourinho in January as Roma’s coach — from believing Leverkusen might be crushed once more.
“We need to stretch them and move them out of position when they don’t have the ball,” De Rossi stated. “They have very good players who pass the ball well and they have a lot of dangerous forwards. If you take the ball away from them, they get nervous, they lose balance and they lose their shape.
“We’ll have to play both phases perfectly because if they never lose, and, above all, have the heart to draw (many) games in the final few minutes then they have something special,” De Rossi added. “They’re unbeaten but there’s no such thing as unbeatable.”
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Roma is aiming to qualify for its third consecutive European remaining after successful the Europa Conference League in 2022 and shedding final 12 months’s Europa League remaining to Sevilla in a penalty shootout.
De Rossi and Alonso confronted one another six instances as gamers with their golf equipment and nationwide groups, with Alonso on the successful facet in 4 of these matchups.
“I fear everything about them but my Roma believes in itself,” De Rossi stated.
Atlanta’s efficiency this season
In Thursday’s different semifinal, Atlanta visits Marseille. Atalanta has been surpassing expectations for years however the membership from Bergamo remains to be lacking a trophy and the Europa League gives certainly one of two upcoming alternatives to crown its trendy period together with the Italian Cup remaining in opposition to Juventus on May 15.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s facet was praised worldwide when it reached the Champions League quarterfinals in pandemic-hit 2020 — simply as Bergamo grew to become the epicenter of the coronavirus.
This season, Atalanta shocked Liverpool within the quarterfinals.
The solely top-tier trophy that Atalanta has ever gained was the 1963 Italian Cup.
Marseille has misplaced its final three semifinals within the competitors and is in search of its first main European trophy since successful the inaugural Champions League in 1993.
The remaining might be held in Dublin on May 22.
