Europa League & Europa Conference League semi-finals: Juventus equalise late; Roma lead on aggregate | OneFootball

Jose Mourinho is one step closer to his sixth European trophy after his Roma side secured a narrow first leg over Bayer Leverkusen in their Europa League semi-final.

Mourinho famously won the competition during its UEFA Cup guise back in 2003 when his Porto side beat Celtic, a triumph that announced the Portuguese to the rest of Europe. A year later, he won the Champions League, before doing it with Inter in 2010 and delivering Manchester United the Europa League in 2017. Last season, he won the inaugural Europa Conference League with Roma too.

The only goal of the game at Stadio Olimpico was scored by 20-year-old Edoardo Bove midway through the second half, a strike from the middle of the penalty area low into the net.

Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen now have work to do in the second in Germany next week.

Elsewhere in the Europa League, Juventus and Sevilla played out a 1-1 draw in Turin.

If Juve go on to lift the trophy, which would be their first continental silverware since 1996 after losing five Champions League finals in the last 27 years, they will likely look back at Federico Gatti’s 90th minute equaliser as a key moment. Sevilla had gone ahead in the first half through Youssef En-Nesyri.

In the Europa Conference League semis, West Ham had to come from behind after a poor first half performance against a very technically composed AZ side at the London Stadium.

AZ went ahead in the first half, deservingly so, when Tijani Reijnders caught out Alphonse Areola with a low shot at the near post. But Said Benrahma equalised from the penalty spot, before Michail Antonio completed the comeback with a tap-in 15 minutes from time.

For full report and player ratings from that game, click here.

The second semi-final in the competition saw Basel beat Fiorentina in Italy with an even later comeback than West Ham’s. Arthur Cabral’s first half header put La Viola in front, a lead they kept until teenage midfielder Andy Diouf found the bottom corner from the edge of the box to get Basel back in it. Zeki Amdouni then won it for the Swiss side in the last minute.