Topic: ⚽UEFA Europa League Discussion Thread -- 2022/23 | Group Stages - page 7. (Read 14932 times)

Lookman just made it 3-0, the unbeatable record has come to an end for Bayern 04 Leverkusen, Atalanta had already done the damage by scoring that initial 2-0, so even when Leverkusen tried to fight back in this second half, yet it's not looking like is going to yield any results, because in the initial start of the second half they where really  trying to put some pressure on Atalanta, but the Atalanta defence has been strong like the wall of Gibraltar. They deserve the trophy, they've shown consistency and they've been incredible with their performance, so they deserve the win. congratulations to Atalanta the champions of the Europa league.

In fact, in the semi-final second leg against Roma, Roma was also ahead by 2 goals and in the end, at the last moment, Leverkusen was able to score 2 goals and ended in a draw. However, the conditions may be a little different this time. This is the semi-finals, where each club will definitely try very optimally, and will narrow the opponent's chances of scoring goals if they are ahead like this. Meanwhile here, this time, Leverkusen, they dominated the ball, but they were unable to get further into the defensive area. So yes, their dominance is in vain. Because what is also important is their shots on target.

I'm quite confused about Xabi, why did he take such a risky step by not fielding all the key players and their main players as starters. Even though this is final, we cannot speculate further like before. Meanwhile, Atalanta is also the top Serie A club which is stronger than Roma. Does Xabi think it will be the same as previous farms and is he very confident in his decision?
Ah well, even though we all hope Leverkusen can do it. However, if in the end Atalanta, a club from Serie A, is able to stop Leverkusen's unbeaten run, that means Atalanta is playing very excellently this time.



Anyway, I think it's done.
Leverkusen won't be able to turn it back to be winner. Should I congratulate Atalanta this time?

We are now in the final minutes for Leverkusen. In the match where Lookman played heroically, Atalanta maintained its 2-0 advantage. The 51-game series will end tonight unless a big miracle happens. What a terrible ending for Xabi and Leverkusen. Since it was the final, I believed that Atalanta would play great, and they did. So far everything is perfect. A miracle probably won't happen in the last 10 minutes.

51 games without defeat for Levekusen is about to end tonight against Atalanta with 2-0 in first half. I also don't think Leverkusen will have the necessary resources to comeback in 2nd half and score 2 goals but I do see them scoring once. However ,if a miracle happens again for them , I think they will be one of the most luckiest teams in football history to always comeback game after game and if you don't believe in magic , you should if this happens 

That's even more incredible considering that there is less rounds in Bundesliga than EPL.
Not that I would be Leverkusen fan, but I will support them tonight and then DFB Pokal final. Really want to see them making something what it would be difficult to repeat.
Put some money on Bayer and also BTTS. Don't want to see 0:0 final at all, but wouldn't be against extra time and penalties .

They did it in Bundesliga so that alone equalled Arsenal's Invincibles so any doubts lingering were gone with that kind of performance. Beat Arsenal's points total, goals scored. What a team.

And now, just two cups away from perfection. I'm not even a Bayer fan but I'm dreaming already, what a memory to treasure.

No value in tonight's game though. 0-0 is also a distinct possibility if I understand the way the Italians will play

That record of Arsenal was also insane, yeah.    However doing it for much longer and in all competitions included is just a very admirable job. Great job Xabi Alonso!

Leverkusen are really the best with comebacks now. I have found a video which Leverkusen YouTube channel shared related to all their last minute goals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQmSkjA2D9U

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Today is the day for the finale!    I can see the odds like:



Truthfully, a regular time win by Leverkusen is my expectation and the odds look nice. I don't underestimate Atalanta of course but it really difficult for them to stop this team. If Xabi Alonso prefers a cautious game then maybe we might see extra time.

They are the anti-complacency team. 5-0 wipeout and they were actually wasteful with chances!

No matter what happens, though, even if they lose the treble, and only have Bundesliga, they are already a team who have surpassed Arsenal's Invincibles. Sorry Gooners but you guys went a season undefeated in the Prem League but Leverkusen are 50 games unbeaten in ANY competition.

I don't care if they end up losing both cups, they are already the best team Europe has ever seen. Liverpool made a record in England for saving the most points in injury time. But Leverkusen blew that out of the water. Comeback kings.

It was really an insane comeback.    I mean there was a 2-0 lead by Roma in the 80th minute. Just how can you let this happen?

I really want to know what the secret is. I would like to ask about that to Xabi Alonso.    The players never back down. Of course while there is a big series like this the players are much more motivated. But they don't even get complacent in the Bundesliga after already declaring the championship.

Hopefully Xabi Alonso maintains the series until the end of the season with 3 championships in hand:

• Bundesliga
• Europa League
• DFB Pokal

For this Leverkusen side, there is no stopping them, their thinking and believe in their abilities is top notch, they were able to preserve their team record of being unbeaten, and it looks like they are going to end this competition being unbeaten. They are a hardworking team; they deserve every moment of success that they are experiencing.

Atalanta vs Leverkusen in the finals, Leverkusen remain the favorites to win it.

Damn, it looked that Roma chances is such tiny, but they scored 2 goals and things looked great for them. But then after everything, they conceded such stupid own goal. It looked that they can at least win game and give Bayer first defeat this season. But Bayer is crazy and there is only man who can stop them:
https://twitter.com/KYSTAR/status/1784601241449902223 49 games undefeated...
While Marseille were so terrible, they had no chance against Atalanta.

Didn't want to say it too early. Leverkusen down 2 goals with 10 minutes, we've seen it happen plenty of time before and this was at home. And then once Mancini put the ball in his own net, the magic of this season seemed to take hold. And take hold it did, equaliser they didn't need arrived in the final minute.

Leverkusen's story continues and while Roma's 30/1 to win was unfair, it wasn't wrong. Collective huge sigh of relief from the bookies!

After the latest results the odds are seen like this:



Roma should have been better than this truthfully. I know it is really hard to stop this Leverkusen. But you are playing home, you should be able to do something at least. Roma were like a ghost in the first half. They made things much easier for Leverkusen. I expected more from De Rossi. They weren't good enough in the attacking side (2 shots on goal in the whole match  ).

Xabi Alonso has exactly what he wants now. He is going for a treble without a loss. If he makes it I guess it will be some kind of a record, right?

Okay, I'm pretending to completely ignore the events of the last few weeks.

Surprisingly, I can't find much to cheer about from a betting perspective -- all teams left are evenly matched according to bookies; okay, Roma has the longest odds but 25/10 or so isn't really an underdog is it?

That means no betting for me, unless Leverkusen - Atalanta looks value to you...

It was a disappointing score at the end truthfully after seeing the way Liverpool started the match.    An early goal to get ahead by nothing more than that later on... Klopp was smiling in the last moments of the match because of a frustration probably. He was really desperate after not being able to score any more goals in the same half.

His substitutions as of the 66th minute also showed that he gave up and he just wanted to save some of his important players' energies for the Premier League match ahead.

Some people will criticize him for that some won't because of the PL's being more important.

Bayern Leverkusen have continued to maintain their unbeaten record this season. Westham almost ended it with their first half lead but as usual Bayern Leverkusen equalized in the second half in their regular late goals. They almost lost their home match against Hoffenheim if not of their late goal scoring prowess that made them score at the 88th and 90th +1 minutes that gave them the 2:1 vicory.

Nice try at motivating Liverpool using past records. Unfortunately, times have changed and just like many people expected, Liverpool won the fight but lost the war. The 0:1 win of Liverpool tonight has turn into waste as Atalanta have qualified.

It was at 6 minutes Liverpool scored their first goal and after that i was expecting more goals from them since all the first team started the match today. Klopp had the intention to score so many goals today but however they were unlucky to score. I was surprised as well when Atalanta were pressing hard to score when i was hoping to see the Atalanta team focusing on defending through out.

Liverpool should be disappointed. This is because they have bottled the EPL to Manchester City, lost the FA cup to   Manchester United and now went out of the Europa league in the quarter finals by losing to Atalanta. I dont think this is the plan Klopp had for the team this season. He would be so disappointed in himself and his team.

Before the game comeback didn't looked impossible. After early they scored, it really looked that they can make. But rest of time didn't looked so good and whole 2nd half, it more looked like Atalanta need to score. Salah wasting great moments, even if it's offside, you still have to score.
Already wanted to say that got burned quite painfully with my bets as I expected much more goals, but late goals of Milan and Bayer improved my situation a bit.. Though, it was already too late for Milan to make a comeback.
Now switching to extra time between Marseille and Benfica.

liverpool scored one goal and were about to score the second, the somewhat unlikely comeback seems possible.

I don't think they can do it but the game is still open.

Disaster instead for Milan who are already losing 2 to zero but now they have one more player thanks to the red card

There might still be hope for Liverpool. Because they finished the first half 1-0 ahead. In fact I thought they would score at least their 2nd goal also because Salah's goal came very early. But still anything can happen in the 2nd half. 

It looks like Klopp didn't want to rotate the usual lineup. Only Nunez is on the bench now but maybe it could be because of his being out of form. Klopp doesn't want to say goodbye to the Europa League early and I started to feel that they will come back against Atalanta in the 2nd half.

Apart from that West Ham finished the first half 1-0 ahead against Leverkusen. However I still don't think they can be the one to advance to next round. The only thing I wonder is whether Leverkusen's unbeaten series will come to an end here...