Draw is not enough
Bayer Leverkusen’s dream of Europa League triumph was shattered by master tactician José Mourinho’s Roman defense bulwark. In the second leg of the semifinals, the Bundesliga side ran passionately and courageously, but also unsuccessfully, and were eliminated with a 0-0 draw against AS Roma. Leverkusen lost the first leg 0-1 last week.
On the 35th anniversary of the club’s greatest success in the UEFA Cup, Bayer missed their third final appearance in a European Cup after 1988 and 2002. Roma with Mourinho, on the other hand, are experiencing their second European final in a row. Last season, the team won the Conference League title. The Portuguese coach could now become the sole record holder in terms of European Cup victories. So far he leads the rankings with five titles in the various competitions, along with former Bayern coach Giovanni Trapattoni.
Leverkusen’s captain and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky had announced a “bigger witch’s cauldron” before the game than in Rome the week before. And the Bayer fans went to great lengths to support this daring thesis. Several thousand greeted the team bus at 7:20 p.m. at the entrance to the stadium in red shirts and with numerous Bengalos. Before the game there was a big choreo. And during the game, the fans basically sang through it and actually created an impressive and semi-final-worthy atmosphere.
And the team struggled to deliver the early goal they were hoping for. The first attempts by Kerem Demirbay (8th) and Moussa Diaby (9th) were rather harmless, but then Diaby hit the bar from a tight angle after a nice pass from Florian Wirtz (12th). Alonso experienced the game intensively on the edge of the field, he ran up and down, conducted wildly and loudly. On the other hand, Mourinho demonstratively exuded composure a few meters to the left, mostly with his hands in his pockets, he only moved a few meters to the left and right.
At the break, 12:1 shots on goal and 74 percent ball possession were statistical witnesses to Leverkusen’s dominance. But apart from Diaby’s crossbar, most chances came from long-range shots, which sometimes posed a little more and sometimes less danger. What caused the greatest excitement was a scene in the 37th minute when Roma defender Bryan Cristante was the last man to pull Sardar Azmoun’s arm. All of Leverkusen demanded a red card, but referee Slavko Vincic from Slovenia allowed play to continue.
Immediately after the break, the Bayer fans caused the game to be interrupted for almost two minutes with a pyro show because of the smoke. Mourinho made another defensive change at half-time. Above all, however, the guests succeeded with increasing success in interrupting the flow of the game with small nods. And as time was running away, Leverkusen became more and more hectic. Azmoun (81st) missed another big chance.
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