EUROPE LEAGUE. Lukaku and Svilar face an extremely difficult task after a 0-2 defeat against Leverkusen, De Ketelaere and co pull out a draw

An extremely difficult assignment awaits Romelu Lukaku and Mile Svilar in Germany next week. AS Roma lost 0-2 at home to Bayer Leverkusen. Charles De Ketelaere and Atalanta scored a 1-1 at Marseille.

Lukaku missed the last three league matches due to a thigh injury, but was still fit for the first leg against coach Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen. Mile Svilar was also in the starting line-up for Roma. The third Belgian in the semi-finals, Charles De Ketelaere, was also allowed to start the match against Marseille.

Lukaku came close to scoring his three hundredth goal in his club career in the first half, but his attempt hit the crossbar. Roma was hit hard, as Svilar had to turn around just before the half hour mark. Dutch defender Rick Karsdorp made a mistake and simply played the ball into the feet of Leverkusen player Alejandro Grimaldo. He put the ball back to Florian Wirtz, who finished it simply: 0-1 for the German champions. Lukaku and co had to chase, but they were unable to score in the first half. Fifteen minutes before the final whistle, Lukaku and Svilar’s European ambitions suffered a serious blow. Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich delivered a great kick from the edge of the box, Svilar could do nothing but watch the ball disappear into the goal: 0-2 for Leverkusen. Lukaku and co realized that they needed a goal ahead of the second leg, but were unable to do so. Next week in Germany they will face the extremely difficult task of overcoming the 0-2 deficit to still qualify for the final.

De Ketelaere and co pulled off a draw

The match couldn’t have started better for De Ketelaere and co. In the eleventh minute, Gianluca Scamacca was passed the ball in the box and the Italian striker coolly finished: 0-1 for Atalanta. However, they could not enjoy the lead for long, because nine minutes later the scores were level again. Chancel Mbemba (ex-RSCA) wonderfully kicked the ball in from outside the box. Marseille was the better team, Atalanta could be happy that it could rest with a 1-1 score. Marseille also pressed on in the second half and the French team seemed to be rewarded 25 minutes before the end, but Ismaïla Sarr’s goal was disallowed due to Luis Henrique’s offside. Substitute Azzedine Ounahi also hit the crossbar, but he was unable to score. De Ketelaere, who was substituted five minutes before the end, and Atalanta can finish it at home next week.