Bayer Leverkusen vs Roma
UEFA Europa League
Semi-Final
2nd leg
Thursday
18th May 2023
BayArena
AS Roma coach José Mourinho can reach a European final for the second season in a row. Last year he won the Conference League at the expense of Feyenoord, now the final of the Europa League beckons. Bayer Leverkusen must first be settled for this.
Mourinho: “We would have already won EL if no CL clubs participated”
Mourinho remains modest. Of course he wants to win a Europa League as a coach, but he said, “I want it for the players and the Roma fans. I am a different person, I think more about others than about myself.”
“The journey of a team that has played 14 Europa League games is much more valuable than that of a team that financially should play in the Champions League. If the Europa League was only for the clubs that started in it, we would have already won it,” Mourinho assures, referring to Champions League dropouts Sevilla, Juventus and Leverkusen.
He is full of praise for Thursday’s opponent: “I have the utmost respect for Leverkusen. We go into the half with a 1-0 lead and still have to play the second half. There have been many difficult moments, but these guys deserve the final, even if you don’t get anything just like that. That’s why we have to play an extraordinary match.”
Mourinho has been linked to Paris Saint-Germain and other clubs, but does not want to talk about his own future. “There is a game to be played and we are not yet in the final. The focus is on Thursday’s game. I don’t want to think about the final yet, let alone my future,” he concluded.
Leverkusen fans can breathe a sigh of relief: Xabi Alonso is staying
Xabi Alonso makes no mistake about his future. The sought-after Spaniard has indicated that he will remain loyal to Bayer Leverkusen until at least the summer of 2024.
The former top midfielder of Real Madrid and Liverpool, among others, said this on Wednesday afternoon at Leverkusen’s press conference in the run-up to the return match in the semi-finals of the Europa League against AS Roma. “It’s true I’m staying. I am very happy with the team and the club,” he revealed.
The 41-year-old Alonso was mentioned at various top clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur. He joined Leverkusen in October, which was wandering in the tail end of the Bundesliga at the time. In addition to the success in the Europa League, Leverkusen moved up to seventh place in the league.
It is Alonso’s first job as head coach. From 2019 to October last year, he worked as a coach of Real Sociedad B.
