Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
Four teams are left in the second tier level of top-flight European competition, the UEFA Europa League. This means that the next winner will be crowned soon.
This time, however, the competition does not feel like a second-tier one.
What Bayer 04 Leverkusen are doing in Germany and the Europa League is almost unprecedented. Then there is Atalanta BC, the David that slayed the Goliath Liverpool to set up a tie with France's Olympique de Marseille, a resurging European heavyweight.
As fans prepare to witness a historic Europa League final four, here are our predictions for the title run-in.
Fans should expect a cracker of a matchup when German Bundesliga champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen take on AS Roma in the semifinals of the Europa League.
This match is a revenge match for Die Werkself while it is a pride match for I Giallorossi. Both teams met at this stage last season when Xabi Alonso had just steadied the ship and begun to pass his ideas through to the Leverkusen players.
Jose Mourinho, then Roma coach, showed his former player how to defend and snatched the final ticket with a 1-0 aggregate win.
Fans can expect fireworks from both sides, who will want to prove that they are better than they were last season.
Roma have only Romelu Lukaku and Chris Smalling out injured, but the Belgian striker is expected to return in time for the clash against Leverkusen.
Luckily for them, Tammy Abraham is hitting his stride and Paulo Dybala is in the form of his life.
Leverkusen, meanwhile, are without strikers Adam Hlozek and Borja Iglesias, but can now count on the full fitness of Victor Boniface in the centre-forward position.
Leverkusen have no players suspended for the tie while Roma will be without Zeki Celik for the first leg.
Predicted Lineups
Roma: Svilar; Karsdorp, Mancini, Ndicka, Spinazzola; Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini; Dybala, Lukaku, El Shaarawy
Leverkusen: Kovar; Kossounou, Tapsoba, Hincapie; Stanisic, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Tella, Wirtz; Boniface
The first leg of the tie will kick off at 2100 CET on Thursday, 2 May 2024 at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome, where Roma will be playing host. Roma tickets for this game are sold out on both club's websites but they can be found on seatsnet.com under "Roma vs Leverkusen tickets".
The second leg of this clash kicks off at the same time on Thursday, 9 May 2024 at the BayArena, Leverkusen. Like the first leg, the tickets for this game are sold out on both clubs' websites but can be found on seatsnet.com under "Leverkusen vs Roma tickets".
Seatsnet makes buying and reselling matchday tickets easy for football fans and organizations.
"Losing after conceding just once is tough, but it's football."
This is what Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso said after dominating possession against Roma but failing to grab the ticket last season.
We do not expect much to change, especially after how they have stuck to the same philosophy this season. But for Roma, who are chasing a third straight European final, the match is a battle.
Roma is more attacking under Daniele De Rossi which implies that both managers will gun for the goals in this tie.
Over two legs, however, Leverkusen will come out tops and this prediction is backed by the sheer number of their comeback wins in all competitions this season.
An attacking matchup is on the cards when Ligue 1's Marseille and Serie A's Atalanta square off for the first time in their history in the Europa League semifinals.
Marseille have Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in their ranks. The Gabonese striker is the all-time leading goalscorer in the competition and is also the leading goalscorer of the current season but the odds are against them. This is because they are winless in their last five home games against Italian opposition.
Atalanta are facing similar struggles with Marseille domestically but in their last two Europa League knockout rounds away legs, they have been exceptional. This means that the French side are at a disadvantage, especially in the home leg.
Emil Holm and Rafael Toloi are out injured for Atalanta and both could miss the semis in its entirety.
Marseille, on the other hand, have four injuries in their squad, which greatly affected their performance in the quarter-finals against Benfica. Valentin Rongier and Bilal Nadir are long-term, while defender Bamo MeïtE will be back after the season ends. Left-back Quentin Merlin could make it back in time for the first leg, however.
Marseille's Samuel Gigot and Atalanta's Isak Hien are both suspended for the first leg.
Predicted Lineups
Marseille: Lopez; Clauss, Murillo, Mbemba, Balerdi, Luis Henrique; Harit, Kondogbia, Veretout; Sarr, Aubameyang
Atalanta: Musso; Djimsiti, Scalvini, Kolasinac; Hateboer, De Roon, Ederson, Ruggeri; Lookman, Pasalic; Scamacca
The first leg of the tie will kick off at 2100 CET on Thursday, 2 May 2024 at the Stade de Marseille, Marseille, France, home of Olympique De Marseille. Tickets to the game can still be bought on ticket reselling platform seatsnet.com and can be found under "Marseille vs Atalanta tickets".
The second leg will be played at Atalanta's home, Stadio di Bergamo, known for sponsorship reasons as the Gewiss Stadium on Thursday, 9 May 2024 at the same time. Tickets to the second leg can also be gotten on seatsnet.com under "Atalanta vs Marseille tickets". Tickets to the game can only be found on ticket reselling platforms like Seatsnet at this time.
As stated earlier, both teams are meeting for the first time. There is no history to pull stats or opinions from.
However, we can make educated guesses based on several important factors. Doing so helps us determine that the odds favour Marseille more, as they have been much better in Europe than Atalanta.
However, La Dea has beaten the giants to reach this stage. Compared to the Italians, the French side is a giant, which also puts them in the line of fire of Gian Piero Gasperini's team.
For this reason, we predict an Atalanta win, but by the narrowest of margins. Marseille will have to wait a little longer to win this competition.
My daughter's first ever football match - Orlando City v Atlanta United, August 2019. Written for Izzy to read when she gets old enough. Vamos Orlando
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