Roma, coached by José Mourinho, opened up an advantage in the semifinals of the Europa League by beating Bayer Leverkusen this Thursday by 1-0 at the Olympic stadium in the Italian capital.
Edoardo Bove (63′) scored the winning goal for the ‘giallorossi’, champions of the Conference League last season.
José Mourinho thus wins the first match in his private duel with Xabi Alonso, who was his player in the days of Real Madrid and currently manages Leverkusen.
See too:
Get to know Gazeta Esportiva’s YouTube
“The players need to control their emotions. We won this first duel, against a very strong team that had a good game”, warned Mourinho in a press conference after the match, nailing his feet to the ground in Roma’s squad.
“We are not satisfied, obviously we didn’t want to lose, but we still have the game back. We know what to do. It is not necessary to do math, we have to win and for that we will have to be focused”, countered Xabi Alonso after the match.
For the two teams, which no longer have title chances in their national championships, the Europa League is the opportunity to lift a trophy in the season and guarantee a direct place in the next European Champions League.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
