Roma Secures Spot in Europa League Finals : Can They Claim the Title?

Masterclass Jose Mourinho Drives Roma to Europa Finals

Under Jose Mourinho, Roma showed extraordinary resiliency to defeat Bayer Leverkusen and go to their second straight European final, setting up a matchup with Sevilla in the Europa League championship.

As they won the Conference League in his first season in Rome, Mourinho orchestrated the Italian club’s first European title in more than 60 years. The Giallorossi, who led the Bundesliga team 1-0 from the first leg, outplayed them the whole game.

Leverkusen had the most possession during the match and was the only team to threaten to score. Still, they could not overcome a typically well-prepared Mourinho team that will compete in the championship game next month.

The statistics from the first half showed that the home team controlled the ball with 73 percent possession and had more opportunities to score with 12 attempts compared to Roma’s. For the home team, Moussa Diaby got the closest, beating Rui Patricio and sending a shot that bounced off the goal frame.

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In the second half, Xabi Alonso’s team saw an opportunity after opportunity slip by as Roma was content to drop off, defend their box, and let the home team take unassured shots.

The other semi-final match was equally well-matched and remained in doubt the entire time. Youssef En-Nesyri had given Sevilla the lead in the first leg in Turin, but Federico Gatti’s last-second header had saved a tie for Juventus.

The second leg was open and tense with great chances coming at both ends but went goalless for an hour. While Juventus, through Angel di Maria and Adrien Rabiot, missed several excellent opportunities, Sevilla believed they had two solid penalty requests denied.

Dusan Vlahovic, a striker who was brought on by Juventus as a second-half substitute in place of Moise Kean, gave the visitors the lead with a coolly dinked finish over Sevilla goalkeeper Bono.

Suso’s long-range goal from outside the box leveled the match six minutes later after the Italian powerhouses had likely had the better chances up to that moment. The rest of the game was dominated by them, although goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny made a string of fine saves to bring the game into extra time.

Erik Lamela scored an injury-time winner for Sevilla, and despite Marcos Acuna’s late red card, they managed to hold on and advance to the final. The record competition winners, who have triumphed in each of the previous six finals, will now face Mourinho.