Sevilla, Leverkusen cruise into Europa League quarter-finals
Five-times winners Sevilla made light work of AS Roma when first half goals from Sergio Reguilon and Youssef En-Nesyri gave them a 2-0 win over AS Roma and sent them into the Europa League quarter-finals on Thursday.
Sevilla’s win, in a tie reduced to a single match played in Duisberg, Germany, after the first leg was called off at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, earned them a meeting with Wolverhampton Wanderers on Tuesday.
Former Spain coach Julen Lopetegui’s side went ahead when Reguilon flew past Bruno Perez and scored with an angled shot which squeezed between goalkeeper Pau Lopez’s legs.
Roma, who finished fifth in Serie A after winning seven of their last eight games, appeared to be coming back into the match when Sevilla struck again.
The La Liga side broke up a Roma attack, Lucas Ocampos was set free down the right and pulled the ball back for En-Nesyri to turn into an empty net shortly before halftime. Roma had Gianluca Mancini sent off in stoppage time.
The last eight will be played in four German cities as part of the mini-tournament, with the final on Aug. 21 in Cologne.
A ninth minute penalty from Raul Jimenez gave Wolves a 1-0 win over Olympiakos which took them through 2-1 on aggregate in a tie played over two legs.
The Mexican also tried his luck with an outrageous rabona shot before halftime which flew over. However, the English Premier League side did not have it all their own way as they reached their first European quarter-final since 1972.
Olympiakos enjoyed 62% possession and had a goal by Mady Camara chalked off in the 28th minute after a long VAR review for offside against Youssef El Arabi in the build up.
Bayer Leverkusen also went through by beating Rangers 1-0 at home to complete a 4-1 aggregate win and earn a quarter-final against Inter Milan on Monday.
Moussa Diaby struck the winner in the 51st minute, controlling Charles Aranguiz’s through ball before thumping his shot into the roof of the net.
FC Basel completed the line-up when a late goal from Fabian Frei gave them a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt to send the Swiss side through 4-0 on aggregate. They will face Shakhtar Donetsk on Tuesday.
Reuters
