Jose Mourinho into another European final as Roma set up Sevilla showdown
Jose Mourinhos Roma will face the perennial Europa League champions Seville in the final in Budapest in two weeks.
Roma bravely defended their 1-0 lead from the first leg Bayer Leverkusen They needed to secure the goalless draw while Sevilla defeated juventus 2-1 after extra time.
Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen threw everything at Roma to equalize overall, but the closest they came was a powerful shot from Moussa Diaby in the 12th minute, which hit the bar.
It was a Mourinho masterclass in the second half as Roma denied their opponents clear chances and Sardar Azmoun’s close-range shot went just wide at the end.
After last season’s Europa Conference League win, Roma are aiming for two straight European titles.
A thrilling game in Seville was decided five minutes after extra time by Erik Lamela’s header.
Moise Kean hit the post for Juve in the first half but they were thanks to goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who parried off a series of saves, with Lucas Ocampos parrying the best.
The Italians took the lead in the 65th minute through Dusan Vlahovic, just after he came on as a substitute, but another substitute, Suso, equalized with a stunning shot six minutes later.
Sevilla could celebrate a hard-fought victory
(EPA)
Sevilla thought they had won at the end of regulation time, but Szczesny made another brilliant save to deflect Youssef En-Nesyri’s header.
However, the Pole was beaten by Lamela, the Argentinean repelled a Bryan Gil cross with a header into the bottom corner and despite Marcos Acuna getting his second yellow card for wasting time, Sevilla managed to reach their seventh final in 18 years. where they will try to maintain their perfect record.
Meanwhile, the Europa Conference League final will be played between West Ham, who defeated AZ Alkmaar 3-1 on aggregate, and Fiorentina.
The Italians lost the first leg 2-1 at home to Basel but won 3-1 that night thanks to Antonin Barak’s late stoppage-time goal at the end of extra time.
Nicolas Gonzalez had previously scored twice for Fiorentina after Zeki Amdouni equalised.
