By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp
Undefeated German Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen will take on Italian Serie A side AS Roma in the UEFA Europa League semifinal first leg on Thursday.
The German club will take on the Italian side as a rematch of last season's Europa League semifinal clash, which was won by Roma with 1-0 aggregate.
"We were the better team, but they scored the goal [in the first leg]," said Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky. "Unfortunately it’s hard to come this far, to have such a great atmosphere and not deliver. Football is a tough game."
"Last year we played against Roma and they made the final," said Leverkusen's Spanish coach Xabi Alonso. "History has repeated itself. It's going to be interesting".
Roma, the 2022 Conference League champions who lost last season's Europa League final to Spanish club Sevilla 1-1 (4-1) with penalty shootout, aim to bag their maiden Europa League title.
German team Leverkusen will fight for their second Europa League title as they won their first one in 1988 as UEFA Cup, before it was rebranded as Europa League in 2009.
- Semifinal fixtures:
Olympique Marseille (France) - Atalanta (Italy)
AS Roma (Italy) - Bayer Leverkusen (Germany)