Europa League: Brilliant Bayer Plan to Conquer Rome

AS Roma vs Bayer Leverkusen

Bayer Leverkusen’s treble bid continues on Thursday when they visit the Stadio Olimpico for a Europa League semi-final first leg clash against Roma. 

While Bayer boss Xabi Alonso has rightly received rave reviews for his incredible achievements this season, Daniele de Rossi has done a great job at Roma too, and this will be a tough challenge for the Bundesliga champions. 

But Leverkusen are unbeaten in 49 games and 23 away from home, and the Europa League 2024 betting odds have installed Die Werkself as clear favourites to win the competition at a SBOTOP price of 1.80. And Alonso’s side has a taste for revenge too, after they lost to Roma at this stage of last season’s Europa League. 

Talking Points

Bayer back to full strength

Now that their Bundesliga celebrations have died down, Die Werkself have three more objectives: to win the DFB Pokal, the Europa League, and to complete the campaign undefeated.

It’s not beyond Alonso’s team by any means, though they were skating on some thin ice in their league match against VfB Stuttgart at the weekend.

 Six minutes into time added on Bayer trailed 2-1, but then up popped Robert Andrich to save a point when he smashed his shot high into the roof of the Stuttgart net.

Alonso took the opportunity to rotate his squad and rest some key players, and we are sure to see the return of striker Victor Boniface and attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz on Thursday.

With five goals from seven appearances, Boniface is Bayer’s joint top scorer in the competition, alongside Patrick Schick, while Wirtz has four assists. And midfield enforcer Granit Xhaka, who was suspended at the weekend, will slot back in to protect the Bayer defence. 

The German champions are in great shape, and with players rested, they will head to Rome with clear intent. 

Roma’s hectic schedule

While Alonso has been able to take care of his squad, De Rossi has complained that his team is at a disadvantage due to their clogged fixture list over the past week.

 The Serie A chiefs decided that Roma would play the last 18 minutes of their postponed match against Udinese on 25^th April.

 The original game had been abandoned after Roma centre back Evan Ndicka suffered a collapsed lung. The situation looked serious, but thankfully, Ndicka is on the road to recovery.

In the event, Bryan Cristante scored a 95^th-minute winner to keep Roma in the hunt for a Champions League slot. De Rossi’s men are currently in fifth place in the Serie A table, four points behind Bologna.

Only three days earlier, Roma lost to I Rossoblu, and while the three points against Udinese closed the gap, a 2-2 draw with Napoli on Sunday was another minor setback.

Meanwhile I Giallorossi have been garnering impressive Europa League 2024 results, beating Feyenoord and Brighton and Hove Albion to reach the last eight.

A quarter final clash with AC Milan was a big test of Roma’s resilience, and they responded brilliantly, winning 3-1 on aggregate, with in-form striker Paulo Dybala scoring the killer third goal.

Roma need a good start to this tie, having only won once on foreign soil this season, a 2-1 win away to FC Sheriff in their very first game.

In their fourth game in ten days, Roma will have to dig deep. Leverkusen are a formidable opponent, but the fans in the Stadio Olimpico will do all they can to give the hosts an edge. 

History

These two teams are European stalwarts, and the winner of this tie will expect to go on and win the competition. Leverkusen won the UEFA Cup back in 1988 and were Champions League runners-up in 2002. Roma are twice Europa League runners-up and were Europa Conference League champions in 2022. 

Bayer and Roma have met seven times previously, and there have been four draws, with Roma winning two and Leverkusen one. Of course, I Giallorossi came out on top in last year’s Europa League semi-final as Edouardo Bove scored the only goal over the two legs. 

Both teams have been in good form recently, with Roma winning four, drawing one and losing one of the last six, while Leverkusen have won three and drawn three.   

Betting Tip

With Roma at 3.03 to win and Leverkusen at 2.11, the Germans have an edge in this first leg, and with Roma’s busy schedule, the visitors may well have fresher legs. They also have a huge incentive with a historic treble on offer.

But Roma are a strong side at home, and they will be hard to beat, with the most likely score line a 1-1 draw at odds of 5.89. Bayer may or may not conquer Rome, but I think they will leave with an advantage, and with their mammoth, unbeaten run up to the half century. 

 

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