En route to the semifinals, Leverkusen eliminates Liverpool from the Europa League

Liverpool’s 1-0 victory against Atalanta was unable to overcome their quarter-final deficit, and they were eliminated from the Europa League. Meanwhile, Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-1 draw with West Ham sent the German champions into the round of four on Thursday.

The Liverpool team wanted to send the German coach to a spectacular victory in the Dublin final during his last season as manager of the club.

However, Liverpool had just lost badly—3-0—to Atalanta at Anfield in the first leg of their match.

There wouldn’t be a miraculous escape this time, despite the fact that Liverpool has pulled off some of the greatest comebacks in European football history against teams like St Etienne, AC Milan, and Barcelona.

In the second leg in Bergamo, Mohamed Salah scored a penalty in the seventh minute when Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross struck Matteo Ruggeri’s arm.

But Klopp’s team was unable to penetrate the resolute Atalanta defense once again.

Liverpool’s Premier League championship campaign was ruined on Sunday by an unexpected home loss to Crystal Palace, so it has been a terrible week for the team.

Emotions are conflicted. Although we lost, I thought the game went well, Klopp said.

It was evident that we set a very high bar for ourselves. We had hoped to visit Dublin, but that did not work out.

While Klopp mulls over his nine-year stint at Liverpool, failing to win the one big title he had been after, Atalanta might hope to win the second trophy in their 116-year existence, following the 1963 Coppa Italia.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s squad will play Marseille in their first European semi-final since the 1988 Cup Winners’ Cup, hoping to make it to their first-ever European final.

Leverkusen, who had just won their first Bundesliga championship the previous weekend, overcame a scare from West Ham to win 3-1 overall.

Xabi Alonso’s team will face Roma in the semifinals. Roma defeated AC Milan 3-1 overall.

Although Leverkusen prevailed 2-0 in the first leg, West Ham got off to an ideal start in east London in the 13th minute as Michail Antonio headed in close to meet Jarrod Bowen’s pinpoint cross.

As West Ham finally ran out of steam, Jeremie Frimpong scored in the 89th minute after Aaron Cresswell’s strike deflected in.

“West Ham had the upper hand. To be honest, the first half did not include our greatest work. I’ll gladly go through that. You always have difficult times in the Europa League, Alonso said.

Leverkusen seeking a triple
With West Ham’s elimination, Leverkusen advances to their second consecutive Europa League semifinal, and for the first time since the year 2000, England will not have a club in the last four of either the Champions League or the Europa League.

Leverkusen has finally shed the nickname “Neverkusen,” which made fun of their years of underperformance, thanks to their 44-game undefeated streak across all competitions. They are on the verge of an amazing triple.

Alonso’s squad defeated Werder Bremen 5-0 on Sunday to win the Bundesliga championship. They will play second-tier Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final on May 25.

At the Stadio Olimpico, Paulo Dybala doubled Roma’s lead in the 22nd minute with a scorching goal after Gianluca Mancini put them ahead in the 12th minute from close range.

Zeki Celik’s dismissal for a foul on Milan striker Rafael Leao in the 31st minute left Daniele De Rossi’s team with only 10 men.

In the 85th minute, Matteo Gabbia pulled one back for Milan, although his header was not much of a comfort.

Roma is one step closer to becoming the first team to win the Europa League after falling to Sevilla in the competition’s final last season.

Roma is into its sixth European semifinal in the previous seven seasons. Roma won the Europa League in 2022.

Marseille overcame Benfica 4-2 in a penalty shootout in the south of France after the French team won 1-0 in an eventual 2-2 aggregate match.

In order to force extra time, Faris Moumbagna scored in the 79th minute by heading home a cross from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Luis Henrique gave Jean-Louis Gasset’s team the victory in the shootout after Benfica’s Angel Di Maria and Antonio Silva missed their attempts.