(Foorball news) The hosts, who have gained a wealth of experience from their recent European adventures, will take on Marseille or Atalanta BC in this season’s Dublin derby as the newly crowned German champions look to exact retribution for their defeat in last season’s semifinals.
After taking a narrow lead in the first leg at San Siro and winning 2-1 at home the following week, Roma defeated AC Milan to advance to the Europa League quarterfinals, where they were drawn to an all-Italian clash.
In the match, Mancini scored twice more before Dybala delivered the game-ending blow. Zeki Celik was then dismissed, but the Giallorossi managed to hold on and continue their quest for a third consecutive European final—their first without former manager Jose Mourinho.
AS Roma eked out a 1-0 aggregate win over Leverkusen in last year’s semis before losing to competition specialists Sevilla in the final, only 12 months after lifting the inaugural Europa Conference League trophy.
There have still been no Serie A successes since the Europa League replaced the UEFA Cup in 2009, but Roma and Atalanta BC have been kept apart in the semi-final draw and could yet meet in this season’s decider.
Should they get that far, the Giallorossi will be led out by club legend and current coach Daniele De Rossi, who has overseen 13 wins and just three losses in 20 games since taking temporary charge in January, following Mourinho’s sacking.
De Rossi recently extended his contract in the capital and is now trying to sign off for the season by claiming some silverware and securing a top-five place in Serie A, thereby securing Champions League football for next term.
His side still occupy fifth place in the standings, just ahead of Atalanta, but following a 2-2 draw in last week’s Derby del Sole, they still have plenty of work remaining.
Indeed, it took a late Tammy Abraham equaliser to salvage that point against Napoli, while Roma lost a recent clash with fourth-placed Bologna; yet they could still claim a place at Europe’s top table by winning the Europa League.
Though Leverkusen also drew 2-2 last time out, their domestic situation contrasts somewhat with Thursday’s hosts, as they were sensationally crowned German champions with several weeks to spare.
The Bundesliga winners struck a last-gasp equaliser for the third time running to deny Stuttgart at the weekend, taking their remarkable unbeaten streak to 46 games in all competitions, of which they have won some 38.
The 44th match in that sequence was the 1-1 draw at West Ham United that booked a place in the Europa League semi-finals, and Jeremie Frimpong’s late leveller helped set a new all-time mark for games undefeated throughout Europe’s top five leagues.
Naturally, Die Werkself’s top-flight points and goals tallies – 81 and 77, respectively – are both club records to this point of a season, and the admirable leadership of Xabi Alonso has seen the club finally shake off their ‘Neverkusen’ tag.
In addition, they are looking forward to traveling to Berlin for the DFB-Pokal final, where they will start as favorites against the overwhelming favorites, Kaiserslautern. A historic triple is expected, and there’s also the small issue of trying to become the first team to win the whole Bundesliga season.
Like De Rossi, highly sought-after Xabi Alonso has said that he would remain at his current club for at least another year. Over the course of the next week, an intriguing match between two promising managers will take place, with the opening act occurring in Italy’s ‘Eternal City’.
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