Football Italia
·9 May 2024
In partnership with
Yahoo sportsFootball Italia
·9 May 2024
Roma start Romelu Lukaku and Sardar Azmoun, as Paulo Dybala is not fully fit against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League semi-final.
It kicks off at the BayArena at 20.00 UK time (19.00 GMT).
You can follow all the build-up and action as it happens from this game and Atalanta-Olympique Marseille on the LIVEBLOG.
The Giallorossi lost the first leg 2-0 at home, so need a miracle to turn that around, especially as Bayer Leverkusen are unbeaten in 48 competitive games this season, winning 40 of them.
They’ve already secured the Bundesliga and are in the German Cup Final, so on track for a Treble.
Dybala is not 100 per cent fit after a muscular problem against Juventus, so but rather than Tommaso Baldanzi, Daniele De Rossi opts for a more heavyweight approach in supporting Lukaku.
Zeki Celik returns from suspension, but is on the bench, while Dean Huijsen and Rasmus Kristensen are still cup-tied.
Bayer Leverkusen showed respect for Roma in the first leg by fielding a very defensive formation with Amine Adli as a False 9.
However, Xabi Alonso returns to a more traditional line-up this evening, but picks Adam Hlozek as the centre-forward rather than Victor Boniface.
The other news is that talented Florian Wirtz is not fit enough to start.
They are coming off the weekend’s 5-1 Bundesliga victory away to Eintracht Frankfurt.
There is a certain desire for revenge too, as Bayer Leverkusen were eliminated by Roma in last season’s Europa League semi-final.
Bayer Leverkusen: Kovar; Hincapie, Tah, Tapsoba; Frimpong, Palacios, Xhaka, Grimaldo; Adli, Hofmann; Hlozek
Bayer Leverkusen bench: Hradecky, Lomb, Stanisic, Kossounou, Andrich, Borja Iglesias, Wirtz, Arthur, Schick, Tella, Boniface, Puerta
Roma: Svilar; Mancini, Ndicka, Spinazzola; El Shaarawy, Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini, Angelino; Azmoun, Lukaku
Roma bench: Rui Patricio, Karsdorp, Smalling, Abraham, Llorente, Celik, Renato Sanches, Dybala, Aouar, Baldanzi, Bove, Zalewski
Ref: Makkelie (NED)