Jose Mourinho had closed in on his second Europa League trophy as he led Roma to 2022/23 Europa League final after holding Bayer Leverkusen to a goalless draw in Germany.
After a narrow 1-0 victory in Italy, Roma needed just a draw to qualify for the final.
It was a game of high stake for both sides. They were way of Champions League spot in their respective domestic leagues with the season rounding off soon.
The Europa League was the only route now for the two clubs to find their way back to European football next season.
Starting lineup
Bayer Leverkusen: Lukas Hradecky; Edmond Tapsoba, Jonathan Tah, Piero Hincapie; Jeremie Frimpong, Kerem Demirbay, Exequiel Palacios, Mitchel Bakker; Moussa Diaby, Sardar Azmoun, Florian Wirtz.
Roma: Rui Patricio; Gianluca Mancini, Bryan Cristante, Ibanez; Mehmet Zeki Celik, Edoardo Bove, Nemanja Matic, Lorenzo Pellegrini, Leonardo Spinazzola; Andrea Belotti, Tammy Abraham.
It was feisty first half clash at BayArena in Germany as Jose Mourinho looked set to drag the game to a draw to progress to the next round on aggregate.
It was another subpar delivery by the visitors with Bayer Leverkusen controlling proceedings from the start.
Despite struggling in front of goal, Xabi Alonso gingered his boys to another superlative performance against his former manager Jose Mourinho.
It was a clinical display by Bayer Leverkusen as they dominated proceedings and came across chances to nail a first half win but could not convert them.
Roma managed just 38% of the ball possession as Bayer Leverkusen continued to breath down their neck for an opening goal.
Throughout the first half, the Serie A side could only manage only one shot and made no attempt to threaten Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper.
On the other hand, Bayer Leverkusen wielded more control of the game with 62% of the possession. They fired 12 shots with 4 on target and were looking more threatening as the game progressed.
Roma goalkeeper was forced into a series of fire saves to keep the scores barren as the home side continued to mount pressure, searching for an opening goal to level the agrgegate score.
After a dragging first half, Roma sailed through unscathed as the hosts failed to break through their stiff defense.
Nothing changed in the second half of the game. Bayer Leverkusen continued to dominate proceedings going forward.
They ramped up pressure to find an opener but met a stiff opposition by the visitors.
Xabi Alonso cut a frustrated figure on the touchlines trying to figure out a way to dismantle Roma’s solid defensive lineup where all men dropped to their own half and waited to catch Bayer Leverkusen offguard through counter attacks.
It was still barren with the hour mark crossed. The game took a more frantic pace as Bayer Leverkusen continued to mount pressure.
Roma were just 15 minutes away from the Europa League final after successfully holding off the hosts to a barren draw till the 75th minute but the game was getting more physical with both sides brandished yellow cards for rough tackles.
Roma failed to register a single shot on target throughout the game but were able to held off the high-pressing Bundesliga side.
The game ended on a barren note with Jose Mourinho leading Roma to the Europa League final as the Serie A club win 1-0 on aggregate.
