The Bundesliga title. The impressive 46-game unbeaten streak. The convincing 3-0 win against Bayern Munich.
But for now, forget about all of that. Bayer Leverkusen has been thinking about their next opponent for a whole year.
The German team wants payback when they face Roma in the Europa League semifinals, a rematch from last season when Jose Mourinho’s Giallorossi made it to the final.
“We were so close to reaching the final last season, and we didn’t like how we were knocked out,” said Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah in an interview. “So I was hoping to play against them again.”
Last May, Roma won 1-0 against Leverkusen at the Stadio Olimpico in the first leg before a scoreless draw in Leverkusen. The defeat in Rome was Leverkusen’s last loss in Europe and second-to-last loss overall before a 3-0 defeat to Bochum in the final round of last season’s Bundesliga.
“Since the first Europa League game against Häcken, we talked about our experience in Rome, and now we’re back in a similar situation, facing Roma in the semifinals,” said Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso. “Hopefully, we can use this experience well.”
In the other semifinal on Thursday, Atalanta will visit Marseille. Leverkusen’s impressive streak of 46 games without a loss is a record across Europe’s “big five” leagues.
But Daniele De Rossi, who took over as Roma’s coach from Mourinho in January, still believes Leverkusen can be beaten again.
“We need to stretch them and disrupt their play when they don’t have the ball,” said De Rossi. “They have talented players who pass the ball well and dangerous forwards. If we can take the ball away from them, they can get nervous, lose balance, and lose their shape.
“We’ll need to execute both phases perfectly because even though they haven’t lost, and can draw many games in the final minutes, there’s no such thing as an unbeatable team,” De Rossi added. “They’re unbeaten, but they’re not invincible.”
