In the early morning of April 12, Beijing time, the first leg of the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup was played at the same time, and many football giants such as Liverpool, AC Milan, Roma and Bayer Leverkusen were present. Previously, La Liga teams were disappointed to take all the quarter-finals of the Champions League, but in the Europa League, Serie A teams have shown great competitiveness, with three teams making it to the quarter-finals. Among them, Milan and Roma were placed in the same group by the draw.
In the newly released Serie A standings, Milan, with a total value of 530 million euros, is firmly in second place, and Roma is in fifth place with a total value of 350 million euros. Recently, Milan have won seven consecutive games in all competitions and are in hot form, while Roma have won 8 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat in the last 11 games after sacking Mourinho.
It is worth mentioning that Milan have maintained an unbeaten record since the two teams met almost nine times. After the start of the game, Roma playing away from home were positive, and Milan's defence faced a serious test.
In the 17th minute, Dybala took a corner kick, and Mancini Jr. grabbed the landing spot and hit the corner with a header, giving Roma the lead away. However, the goal sparked controversy, with Lukaku being visibly offside from a Roma corner, a major omission by the referee and Pioli's protests.
Milan also had a chance of equalising, as Olivier Giroud's close-range header was cleared off the line by Lukaku, who kept the city clean with two headers in quick succession.
In the second half, Milan launched a fierce attack, but were never able to break the deadlock. In the 87th minute, Olivier Giroud's header hit the crossbar and Roma were lucky to escape. In the end, Roma beat AC Milan 1-0 away and the second leg between the two sides will be played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.
Another Serie A powerhouse, Atalanta, drew Europa League favourites Liverpool, and despite the difference in quality between the two teams, Atalanta is still expected to work a miracle. Liverpool, worth a total of 930 million euros, have been in the Premier League title race this season, but have won only three of their last six games and are in a slight slump.
Atalanta, worth €350 million, have suffered two consecutive defeats in Serie A and Coppa Italia to sit sixth in the table, and the league competition ahead will be crucial if they are to secure European qualification for next season.
The game was a tight battle from the start, with Liverpool missing a number of chances when Nunez's one-on-one effort went wide and Elliott's header from inside the box hit the crossbar and then the post.
In the 37th minute, Atalanta's attack on the right side tore through the Liverpool defense, and Scamacca outflanked the goal, and Atalanta took the lead.
With Liverpool temporarily trailing 1-0 at the end of the first half, Jurgen Klopp made a change at half-time.
In the 60th minute, Liverpool's defence was leaky again, and Scamacca received a cross from De Ketelaere and scored twice.
Mohamed Salah scored a goal late in the game, but it was disallowed due to offside when he received the ball.
In the 83rd minute, Szobosloy made a mistake in passing, Atalanta scored again, and Pasalic sealed the win.
In the end, Liverpool lost 0-3 at home to Atalanta, and the top favorite to win the championship suffered a miserable upset, and the prospects for the second leg were worried.
Six wins in a row in all competitions, 16 points ahead of Bayern, only need a win in the next round of the league to be crowned early, and the unbeaten feat of 41 games has been achieved in all competitions