The 2023/24 European Cup has entered the final stage, and the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, Europa League semi-finals and UEFA Europa League semi-finals will be fully launched. At 3 a.m. Beijing time on May 3, Roma will host Bayer Leverkusen, the two teams have met in the Europa League semi-finals for the second consecutive season, and CCTV5 will not broadcast this game live due to copyright reasons.
Roma have reached the semi-finals of European competition for three consecutive seasons, won the inaugural UEFA Europa League in 2021/22, and reached the Europa League final in last season, losing to Sevilla on penalties to finish runners-up. In this season's Europa League, Roma only ranked second in the group stage, but eliminated Feyenoord on penalties in the play-offs to advance to the round of 16, eliminated the Premier League team Brighton with an aggregate score of 4-1 over two legs in the 1/8 finals, and beat AC Milan in the 1/4 finals home and away to advance to the semi-finals.
Bayer Leverkusen are the most amazing team in European football this season, unbeaten in all competitions, unbeaten in the Bundesliga for 31 consecutive games, winning the title five games ahead of schedule, breaking Bayern's 11-game winning streak. In the German Cup, Bayer Leverkusen advanced to the final with a complete victory. In the Europa League, Bayer Leverkusen won all the groups and advanced, eliminating Karabagh with an aggregate score of 5-4 in the 1/8 finals and West Ham United with an aggregate score of 3-1 in the 1/4 finals, advancing to the semifinals for two consecutive seasons.
The two teams have met six times in European competition, with Roma having the upper hand with two wins, three draws and one defeat, and in last season's Europa League semi-finals, Roma drew 0-0 away at Bayer Leverkusen and returned home in the second leg to beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 to advance to the final. Roma are unbeaten in their last five meetings with Bayer Leverkusen, with two wins and one draw at home. The battle between De Rossi and Alonso attracted the attention of fans.
Serie A and Bundesliga are the top two leagues in European terms this season, and the showdown between Roma and Bayer Leverkusen is a contest between the two major Italian and German leagues. Roma are worth 328 million euros and have stars such as Romelu Lukaku, Dybala, Paredes and others. Bayer Leverkusen's value reached 595 million euros, and the sum of the values between the two teams is 7 billion yuan.
Roma are in a deep five-game race in Serie A, drawing 2-2 away to Napoli in the last round of the league and sitting fifth in Serie A with a game in hand, but only two points ahead of Atalanta behind them, and next season's Champions League qualification is in jeopardy. Bayer Leverkusen, on the other hand, drew two consecutive rounds after winning the Bundesliga in advance, and both drew in stoppage time in the final game, maintaining an unbeaten record.
Roma played all the way in the league in preparation for the Europa League, with Tammy Abraham scoring after returning from a serious injury. Bayer Leverkusen made a big rotation in the last round of the league, Wirtz and Boniface were rested. In terms of injuries, Roma, Romelu Lukaku, Smalling will be out due to injury, Bayer Leverkusen, Hlozek, Iglesias, Ta are injured and may not be able to play.
Since De Rossi took over from Jose Mourinho, Roma have bottomed out and were close to fourth-placed Bologna at one point, but recently, Roma's fatigue has gradually emerged, and after two consecutive games without a win, Roma have fallen into a slump. Bayer Leverkusen also fell into three consecutive draws in all competitions after winning the title, and neither team was at its best. Roma won just one goal last season, and Bayer Leverkusen have a chance to take revenge on the away side in this game.