Olympique de Marseille and Atalanta Bergamo parted with a score of one goal everywhere in the semi-final first leg of the Europa League
Olympique de Marseille hoped for better. In a boiling Vélodrome stadium and fully behind his team, Jean-Louis Gasset’s men come out of this semi-final first leg with a slightly bitter feeling. And yet, they were not favorites this Thursday evening against theAtalanta Bergamo. The Phocaeans were dominated for 45 minutes, before regaining control of the match. But the two goals of the match took place in the first twenty minutes, with Atalanta opening the score thanks to two errors from Chancel Mbemba, before the latter made up for it with a splendid strike at the entrance to the surface. Jean-Louis Gasset, if he regrets the “a little timid” start to the match, is aware that the qualification will be played in Bergamo. “We will have to defend well and negotiate counter situations better. We will have to play the perfect match to qualify, it’s worth it.”
In the other semi-final, Bayer Leverkusen takes an option on qualification after their 2-0 victory against AS Roma at the Stadio Olimpico. In a revenge of last year, where the two teams had already faced each other at the same stage of the competition, the German champion rode on the confidence gained by his historic season by opening the score shortly before the half-hour mark. of play, before doubling the lead in the 73rd.
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As a reminder, the eight clubs which finished at the top of their Europa League group were directly qualified for the round of 16 of the competition. They faced the winners of the play-offs. Here are now the posters for the semi-finals:
- Marseille – Atalanta
- AS Roma – Bayer Leverkusen
The knockout phase will take place from Thursday February 15, 2024 to Thursday May 9, 2024. As for the final, it is scheduled for May 22, 2024 at the Puskas Arena stadium in Budapest (Hungary). The calendar has been established as follows by UEFA:
- Semi-finals: May 2 and 9, 2024
- Final: May 22, 2024
As last season, UEFA has awarded the French TV rights for the 2023/2024 Europa League to RMC Sport, M6 And Canal+ which will ensure broadcasting until the end of the season. Canal + will co-broadcast each Thursday’s poster with M6 and RMC Sport for its part offers all of the remaining matches. M6 will broadcast unencrypted the final scheduled for May 22, 2024.