Europa League – Leverkusen vs Atalanta: Bayer Leverkusen went into the home leg of the RO16 against Atalanta with a one goal deficit. The club lined up at the BayArena with star players Patrik Schick, Florian Wirtz, and Jeremie Frimpong sidelined.
The squad severely suffered from the absentees across all aspects of the field and were chasing for the goal all night long. Only to end up with a 0-1 defeat on the night.
In the dying moments of the game Jeremie Boga capitalised on an exhausted home defence that failed to track back. And beat Hradecky at the near post with a stunning strike at the end of a solo run to seal the result and a spot in the final eight.
Thus the tie ended 4-2 on aggregate in favour of the Bergamo side.
Europa League – Leverkusen vs Atalanta: Match report
Bayer Leverkusen: Hradecky; Fosu-Mensah (Bellarabi 62), Tah, Tapsoba, Hincapie, Bakker, Palacios (Azmoun 62), Aranguiz (Alario 82), Demirbay (Andrich 62), Diaby, Adli. Unused bench: Grill, Lomb, Kossounou, Paulinho, Sinkgraven. Coach: Gerardo Seoane.
Atalanta: Musso; Toloi (Djimsiti 10), Demiral, Palomino, Hateboer, de Roon, Freuler, Zappacosta (Pezzella 79), Koopmeiners, Malinovskyi (Boga 66), Muriel (Pessina 79). Unused bench: Rossi, Sportiello, Mæhle, Mihaila, Scalvini, Pašalić. Coach: Gian Piero Gasperini.
Goal: Jeremie Boga 91’
Europa League – Leverkusen vs Atalanta: Managers’ reaction
Bayer Leverkusen’s Gerardo Seoane: “We had enough chances to score a goal, but weren’t coolheaded enough. Those bad 40 minutes in Bergamo [last week] sunk us.”
Atalanta’s Gian Piero Gasperini: “It’s very satisfying to reach the quarter-finals. We struggled a little in the second half, but overall qualified deservedly.
“Now we wait for the draw, but first we enjoy this evening. We could’ve done better, but we showed important values that are needed at this level too.
“I congratulated Gerardo Seoane, as he is getting the best out of a squad with lots of young talents. We are happy to have qualified, but it was really tough.”
