Jose Mourinho, who leads AS Roma, laughed first in a confrontation with Leverkusen’s ‘disciple’ coach Xabi Alonso.
Roma defeated Leverkusen 1-0 in the first leg of the 2022-2023 UEFA Europa League semifinals held at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.
Roma, which won the first championship in the Europa Conference League last year and reached the top in the European club competition for the first time since its foundation, this season has taken advantage of advancing to the final of the Europa League, a higher competition.
If Roma reached the final of this competition, it would be the first time in 32 years since the 1990-1991 season when the predecessor, the UEFA Cup final, was staged.
At the time, Roma were unable to beat Inter Milan in the final.
The second leg of the two teams will be held at Leverkusen’s home on the 19th.
Roma also reached the final of the European Cup, the predecessor of the UEFA Champions League, in the 1983-1984 season, but there is a painful memory of losing the championship to Liverpool.
On the other hand, Leverkusen, which is aiming for the finals for the first time since the 1987-1988 season, when former national soccer team coach Cha Bum-geun played a big role and won the championship by defeating Espanyol, was in danger of being eliminated.
The semifinals of the two teams drew attention as a confrontation between coach Mourinho and coach Alonso, who ate together as coach and player at Spain’s prestigious Real Madrid.
In the 2010-2011 season, under manager Mourinho, who took the helm of Real Madrid, Alonso played an active role as a defensive midfielder.
After the game ended, the two shared their joys as they hugged each other fiercely, but the winning goal was split by Edoardo Bové, a 2002-year-old midfielder from Roma.
In the 17th minute of the second half, when Tammy Abraham, who had left Leverkusen’s central defender Jonathan Tarr behind, kicked a powerful right-footed turning shot in front of the goal, which was blocked by the goalkeeper’s save, Bove, who showed concentration, shook the net again with his left foot.
Rome gave the initiative with 37%-63% of the ball possession, but only two effective shots throughout the game and broke Leverkusen, who had a dull finish, with Bove’s ‘one shot’.
Federico Gatti
Juventus drew 1-1 in the first match of the semi-finals against Sevilla at home thanks to Federico Gatti’s ‘theatrical goal’ just before the end.
Sevilla took the lead through Yusif Nusayri’s goal in the 26th minute.
In a counterattack situation, Lucas Ocampos, who ran down the right flank, stabbed the ball into the center, and Nusayri kicked the ball with his right foot, shaking the net.
In the midst of a fierce battle between the two teams, with 24 shots coming and going, Juventus was unable to score a comeback until the 45th minute in the second half, and it seemed that the game was leaning towards Sevilla.메이저놀이터
It was defender Gatti who saved Juventus.
After all 6 minutes of extra time in the second half had passed and 30 seconds had elapsed, Paul Pogba was hit in the head in the final corner kick, and Gatti, who was rushing the ball over the goalkeeper’s key, finished it with a header, and Juventus dramatically equalized. .
The second leg of the two teams who failed to win in the first leg will be held at the home of Seville on the 19th.