Leverkusen come back late to join Atalanta in Europa League final | OneFootball

The Europa League semi-finals came to an end Thursday evening as two teams booked their tickets to Dublin for the final.

Here is what went down in the two ties.

Leverkusen score late to stun resurgent Roma

Scorers: Mancini 82′(OG), Stanišić 90+7′ ;  Paredes 43′ (P), 66′ (P)

The German champions took a 2-0 lead back home after an impressive win in Rome, but Roma have been known to pull off some stunning European comebacks in recent memory.

Needing to push the tempo and pull themselves back in the tie, Roma looked to pepper the Leverkusen goal. The best chance fell to Lorenzo Pellegrini, but his close-range header went straight into the grateful grasp of the keeper.

The hosts nearly found the opener, and opener that would have likely killed off the tie but Evan Ndicka cleared the ball off the line after a shot rang the post.

The tie was flipped on its head before the break however, as Leandro Paredes scored from the penalty-spot after Sardar Azmoun was taken down in the box.

The home crowd was stunned after the break when Roma were awarded another penalty-kick thanks to a handball box in the spotted by the VAR.

Paredes stepped up once again, dispatched the spot-kick and pulled Roma level in the tie.

Leverkusen, as they do, found a way to pull themselves up and they regained their lead on aggregate thanks to a Gianluca Mancini own-goal, derailing Roma’s momentum.

The turnaround was completed in vintage Leverkusen fashion as Josip Stanišić came off the bench to hit Roma on the break and keep their unbeaten streak alive.

Atalanta thump Marseille to cruise to the final

Scorers: Lookman 31′, Ruggeri 52′, Touré 90+2′

After a 1-1 draw in France, the tie was finely poised as it headed to Bergamo, though Marseille came into the night having only won one of their last 19 away games in the Europa League.

The fireworks of the first-leg did not carry over to the second in the opening 20 minutes, despite both sides pushing for the opener.

A Gianluca Scamacca shot went fizzing just wide of the post shortly after Atalanta put together their best move of the night, firing the first warning shot across Marseille’s bow.

That warning should have been taken seriously as Atalanta found the opener through Ademola Lookman just past the half-hour mark.

It did not take Gasperini’s men long to double their lead after the break as Matteo Ruggeri fired home on his weak foot to double Atalanta’s lead on the night.

The cherry on top of the superb Atalanta performance came from El Bilal Touré, who came off the bench to score and ensure the La Dea will head to their first ever European final.