AS Roma vs Bayer Leverkusen:
Jose Mourinho will meet with his former player and now Bayern Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso in AS Roma’s clash against the German side in the first leg of the Europa League semi-final at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Alonso played 151 games under Mourinho between 2010 to 2013 for Real Madrid.
Roma’s recent form hasn’t been much to smile about, as they’ve failed to win a game since their 4-1 triumph against Feyenoord, drawing two games, and losing two.
Most recently, they fell to the hands of Inter in a huge battle for a top-four place. Mourinho wasn’t disheartened after the match: saying, “I told the lads how proud I was of them after the game.”
An extremely positive statistic for Roma is the fact that they have lost just 1 home game in their last 25 games at the Stadio Olimpico in European competitions. Stephan El Shaarawy spoke about Roma’s winning mentality in Europe: saying, “We are acquiring a great winning mentality, which the coach is trying to pass on to us. Last year the first trophy came, this year another semi-final…”
The Giallorossi haven’t completely fallen out of the top-four race in the Serie A yet, but it looks like the Europa League could be their best route to achieve Champions League football next season.
Concerning Bayern Leverkusen, they have picked up flying form since Xabi Alonso’s takeover in October. The return of one of Germany’s biggest young talents: Florian Wirtz, has been a big boost for the club.
Before their most recent game where they lost 2-1 to Koln, the last time they had lost was on February 23rd in a league clash against Mainz: that’s 14 games!
Leverkusen are completely out of the top-four race in the Bundesliga, mostly to blame for their disastrous start to the season in the fall. Alonso spoke recently: saying, “Being in the semi-finals is great, but once you get there you want more.” Roma have to be prepared to face an extremely hungry Leverkusen side who have a manager by their side that truly knows what it takes to win at the highest level.
With both teams having the Europa League as their best shot to achieve Champions League football, expect both teams to go all out over the course of both legs.
Head To Head History:
Roma have won 1 game, Leverkusen have won 1 game, and the two teams have drawn 3 times. There has been an average of 4.60 goals per game in their 5 previous meetings.
Betting Odds:
Roma: 11/10
Draw: 23/10
Leverkusen: 11/4
Juventus vs Sevilla:
The Old Lady will host Europa League kings Sevilla at the Allianz Stadium in Turin in their first-leg clash.
After having their 15-point deduction in the league reverted, Juventus can hold their heads high for their performance this season.
Currently sitting in 2nd place in the league, they are almost certain to play in the Champions League next season. One of Juve’s standout players this season: Adrien Rabiot, spoke on Juventus’s winning mentality after their victory over Sporting Lisbon: saying, “Competitiveness is in Juventus’s DNA.”
After being knocked out of the Champions League this season, Massimo Allegri’s men have yet to concede a goal from open play in their five games of Europa League action.
Juventus head into the semi-finals as the betting favourite to win the whole competition, and considering the expectation for a club like Juventus, anything less than a trophy would be considered a failure for them.
Sevilla have under-performed heavily in La Liga this season, currently sitting in 11th place. However, since the beginning of April, they have lost just one game in all competitions, and thrashed Europa League favourites Manchester United in that time.
Sevilla have always found a way to win in the Europa League. This will be their seventh time reaching the semi-final: more than any other club in Europe. As well, Sevilla have gone on to win the entire competition every time they’ve reached the semi-finals.
In their last six meetings against Italian sides in the Europa League, the Rojiblancos have won all six.
It’s only positive when it comes to Sevilla and the Europa League, but this year’s challenge to achieve glory might be their toughest yet. Going against the favourite to win the competition: Juventus, and having had a very difficult season domestically, it will truly take all they’ve got to beat The Old Lady.
Head-to-Head History:
Juventus have won 3 of the 5 meetings between them, drawing 1, while Sevilla have won just 1.
Betting Odds:
Juventus: 3/4
Draw: 13/5
Sevilla: 4/1
[ays_poll id=50]
