Bayer Leverkusen wants to seize its “second chance” in the semi-final first leg of the Europa League on Thursday against AS Roma who eliminated it at this stage of the competition last year, explained their coach Xabi Alonso.
“More than a revenge, it’s a second chance, the elimination hurt us a little (…) It was a close call last year, a lot of things have changed since then for both teams”, declared the Spanish coach of the German champions at a press conference on Wednesday.
The two teams had already met in the semi-final of the C3 just a year ago: Roma had won the first leg 1-0 at home, before neutralizing (0-0) Bayer in Leverkusen and pocketed his ticket to the final, lost on penalties to Sevilla.
“We are hungry, we want to reach this final, but it is going to be a very intense match,” he added.
“Roma has changed a lot (since the arrival of Daniele De Rossi in mid-January), it is an exceptional team, of very high quality, with a great coach,” continued Alonso.
Before the semi-final first leg on Thursday at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Bayer is undefeated this season, with an impressive record in all competitions of 38 wins and eight draws.
Under the leadership of De Rossi, Roma regained color in the league, moving from 9th to 5th place, and conceded only four defeats in all competitions.
“We want to take our revenge, we all talked about it,” insisted Czech striker Patrik Schick, who spent two seasons in the AS Roma jersey between 2017 and 2019.
