AS Roma vs Bayer Leverkusen Preview

Xabi Alonso and his relentless Bayer Leverkusen side will look to continue their incredible unbeaten run when they travel to Rome to face AS Roma in the first leg of their 2023/24 Europa League (UEL) semi-final tie.

Both sides met in last year’s UEL semi-final with Roma under Jose Mourinho getting the better of Leverkusen over two legs. Things have changed at Roma’s dugout this season, though, with Daniele de Rossi the man tasked with ensuring that the Italian giants reach their third European final in three seasons.

The former Roma player has had a brilliant managerial career so far in the club, overseeing a 3-1 aggregate win over AC Milan in the last round of the Europa League. His side are still outside the top four in the league, though, so they still have to balance this competition alongside their quest for a top-four finish.

Having beaten fellow Italian rivals Milan in the last round, Roma have now reached the semi-finals of four consecutive competitions. They prevented Leverkusen from scoring for 180 minutes to grind out a 1-0 victory in the most recent of those semi-finals. As such, they will fancy their chances of a repeat here. Also, their near-perfect W11, D1, and L1 home record over the last two editions of the Europa League further leaves them well-placed to establish a first-leg advantage here.

Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen continued to defy the odds and march towards an invincible season with a late draw against Stuttgart last weekend. The new Bundesliga champions, who have become synonymous with late goals were in danger of losing their unbeaten record as they trailed Stuttgart 2-0 up until the hour mark. But two goals, including a 96th-minute goal by Robert Andrich, ensured they extended their current unbeaten run to 46 games without defeat (W38, D8), overtaking Juventus to claim the European record for the longest unbeaten streak across all competitions.

However, three draws in their last three games across all competitions has raised concerns that their overwhelmingly successful campaign could be wearing down. But as a two-time Champions League winner in his playing days, manager Alonso knows how to keep winning at this time of year and has vowed to “keep going and not stop” in his own personal quest for managerial history.