Draw Martínez, hero of the ‘villains’ in the penalty shootout against Lille to advance to the semifinals of the Conference
MADRID, 19 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Bayer Leverkusen drew (1-1) this Thursday in their visit to West Ham United and has reached the semi-finals of the Europa League, where they will face AS Roma, the executioner of AC Milan (2-1), while The other tie will measure Olympique de Marseille against Atalanta BC, who have left SL Benfica (1-0, 3-2 on penalties) and Liverpool FC (0-1) respectively.
At the Olympic Stadium in London, Xabi Alonso’s pupils were testing their hangover after the Bundesliga title. And despite the 2-0 score in the first leg, they suffered a lot when in the 13th minute they conceded a goal from Michail Antonio with a header from a Jarrod Bowen cross. Not surprisingly, goalkeeper Matej Kovar then saved Bayer Leverkusen a couple of times.
Although West Ham tried desperately in the final stretch of the match, they left gaps behind and Jeremie Frimpong scored the final 1-1 in the second clear counterattack they had. It was with a left foot shot inside the area, which he bounced off a rival defender and changed direction until entering.
The next obstacle for the new German champion will be a Roma that in half an hour resolved its quarterfinal against Milan. Gianluca Mancini opened the scoring in the 12th minute by taking advantage of a rebound from the post, after a shot by Lorenzo Pellegrini from the edge of the area, and Paulo Dybala scored 2-0 in the 22nd minute with a left footed shot to the far post.
Despite the expulsion of Zeki Çelik and Matteo Gabbia’s goal for the Milanese in the 85th minute, the home team delighted their fans with the victory and their passage to the semi-final, making good the 0-1 of the ‘rossonero’ fiefdom. On the other side of the table there will also be an Italian team, ensuring Serie A at least a fifth representative in the new Champions League, which will debut from the 2024/25 season.
This crystallized as Atalanta kicked Liverpool out of the tournament, despite losing 0-1 in the second leg. The penalty converted by Mohamed Salah in the 7th minute scared the Bergamasca fans, but the locals withstood every ‘red’ push and sealed their classification, validating the surprising 0-3 they obtained during the first leg at Anfield.
Those from Bergamo will play their ‘semi’ against Olympique de Marseille, who beat Benfica at home. The score remained 0-0 until the 79th minute, but it was broken by a header from Faris Moumbagna almost in the six-yard box, after a good assist from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Thanks to the 2-1 score in the first leg, everything led to extra time, but the tie continued and in the subsequent shootout Angel Di María and António Silva missed their penalties.
DIBU MARTÍNEZ LA LÍA AT THE LILLE STADIUM
Meanwhile, in the quarterfinals of the Conference League, the curious show given by Draw Martínez against Lille stood out. Aston Villa had a 2-1 lead from the first leg, but were on the ropes when they conceded goals from Yusuf Yazici (15′) and Benjamin André (67′). Matty Cash scored the 2-1 ‘in extremis’ and forced extra time.
There were no goals in that extra time either and it was decided with another penalty shootout (3-4). There the Argentine goalkeeper of the ‘villains’ became a hero by clearing a shot from Nabil Bentaleb and the decisive one from Benjamin André himself. To make matters worse, the French team saw how Martínez was not sent off despite receiving a second yellow card for provoking, based on a 2020 regulation that ‘resets’ the cards shown by the referee.
In the next round, Aston Villa will play against Olympiacos, who also won their place thanks to another agonizing penalty shootout (2-3) during their visit to Fenerbahçe. The Greek team, coached by the Spanish José Luis Mendilibar, celebrated in style when their goalkeeper Konstantinos Tzolakis stopped Leonardo Bonucci’s final shot.
The second ‘semi’ of this Conference League will cross Fiorentina, who eliminated Viktoria Plzen 2-0 in extra time, with Bruges, who for their part won 0-2 on their visit to PAOK in Thessaloniki, thanks to two goals from Ferran Jutglà shortly before half-time.