Bayer Leverkusen created a good basis for promotion in the second legs in a week with a 2-0 (0-0) win against West Ham United. AS Roma secured an away win in the Serie A comparison with a 1-0 (1-0) win at Milan. Benfica Lisbon beat Olympique Marseille 2:1 (1:0).
Given the busy program in the Premier League and European Cup, Klopp initially put his star striker Mohamed Salah on the bench, as did Luis Diaz. Caoimhin Kelleher started again in goal and was soon challenged in a furious opening phase. Kelleher deflected a shot from Pasalic from close range with his cheek to the corner (4th). But Liverpool also had a huge chance after a quarter of an hour: Darwin Nunez lacked efficiency in front of the visitors’ goal. Harvey Elliott was unlucky, whose almost perfectly curled shot bounced off the crossbar and pole (26′).
However, Bergamo presented themselves as the expected tough opponents who were often able to successfully disrupt the home team’s build-up to the game. An advance on the right gave the Lombards, who also played against Sturm Graz (2:2, 1:0) in the group phase, the lead. Scamacca – who worked for West Ham a year ago – finished and the ball didn’t seem unstoppable.
In addition to Salah, Liverpool also had Dominik Szoboszlai and Andy Robertson after the break, and after an hour Diaz also came on for the hapless Nunez. The “Reds” increased the pressure, but Bergamo scored the goal. To the surprise of many, Charles de Ketelaer was not offside; Scamacca finished his cross dry with a half-volley to make it 2-0. Liverpool were no longer able to make a comeback. Salah’s supposed 1:2 was rightly disallowed due to the Egyptian’s narrow offside position (79th), before things got even worse for the English. After another mistake, Pasalic even managed to score the third goal for coach Gian Piero Gasperini’s team, who then fought for the result with a lot of effort over time.
Despite having significantly better opportunities, Leverkusen had to be patient against West Ham for a long time before Jonas Hofmann volleyed home the lead in the 83rd minute. Another “Joker” scored, Victor Boniface (91st). Xabi Alonso’s team – which could celebrate the German championship for the first time this weekend – remained unbeaten in all competitions in the 42nd game of the season.
Part one of the all-Italian quarter-final duel went to Roma. The “Giallorossi” won 1-0 against Milan in Milan. Gianluca Mancini, who had already scored the winning goal in the Roman derby against Lazio at the weekend, headed a corner into the net (17′). Benfica beat Olympique Marseille and gave coach Roger Schmidt some breathing space. Rafa Silva (16th) and Angel di Maria (52nd) initially scored for Portugal’s record champions in Lisbon, before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (67th) preserved the southern French’s chances of promotion with his tenth goal in the current competition.
In the Conference League, PAOK Saloniki suffered an away defeat without the sick Thomas Murg and with Stefan Schwab (from 72nd) who came on as a substitute at the end. The leaders of the Greek league lost 0-1 (0-1) at Club Bruges. Brugge striker Thiago was denied a penalty in the 78th minute by goalkeeper Dominik Kotarski, who had committed a foul in the penalty area. Aston Villa secured the only English success of the evening with a 2-1 (1-0) home win over OSC Lille.