Bergamo “Atalanta” Italy defeated Marseille “Olympique” 3:0 (1:0) at home, winning 4:1 in two games.
Ademola Lukmens, Mateo Ruggeri and El-Bilal Toure scored for the hosts.
German champion “Bayer” Leverkusen played 2:2 (0:1) with “AS Roma” at home, winning 4:2 in the aggregate of two games.
With two 11-meter kicks by Leandro Paredes in the 43rd and 66th minutes, the Roma players evened the result in the sum of two games, but “Bayer” avoided the first loss of the season.
In the 82nd minute, however, the ball got into the visitors’ goal from “AS Roma” defender Gianluca Mancini, who headed the ball into his own goal after taking a corner kick.
The German champion avoided a loss in the seventh minute of the compensation time of the match, when Josip Stanisic sent the ball into the goal after a break.
In the UEFA Europa League group stage, 32 teams were divided into eight groups. The first two entered the elimination tournament, the first place winners immediately securing a place in the second round. The runners-up were joined in the first round by the eight third-placed teams in the Champions League groups. On the other hand, the third place winners moved on to the European Conference League competition, while the European Cup season was over for the fourth place winners in the groups.
The final match of the European League will take place in Dublin, the capital of Ireland, on May 22.
In the previous season, “Sevilla” became the seven-time winner of this tournament, beating “AS Roma” in the final in a shootout.
