Bayer Leverkusen are eliminated from the Europa League against Inter Milan

Inter Milan are in the semi-finals of the Europa League. The Italian runner-up prevailed 2-1 (2-1) against the last Bundesliga club in the competition, Bayer Leverkusen. The goals for Inter were scored by Nicolò Barella (15th minute) and Romelu Lukaku (21st), while Kai Havertz was successful for Bayer (24th). The game took place in the Fortuna Düsseldorf stadium, one of the four venues of the final tournament of the Europa League in North Rhine-Westphalia that was made necessary by the corona pandemic.

Without the suspended Charles Aránguiz and the briefly injured Sven Bender, Bayer started the game with significantly more possession, but without any control of the game: Antonio Contes Milanese made Bayer’s attempts at a development game during the transition from defense to midfield. Bayer let the ball go, but rarely came out of their own half.

Inter, on the other hand, immediately became dangerous when Peter Bosz’s team surrendered possession – especially if Lukaku was found in the center: Daley Sinkgraven was able to block a first shot by the Belgian, Barella pushed the rebound into the far corner (15 ). A few minutes later, Lukaku received the next flat diagonal ball from right wing defender Ashley Young, spun around Edmond Tapsoba and spiked the ball past Lukas Hradecky as he fell (21st).

Havertz keeps the game open

Bayer brought an idea from Havertz back into play: The sought-after offensive talent slipped between two opponents, played his way with Kevin Volland in the shooting position with a one-two and shot Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic through the legs (24th). For Havertz it could have been the last appearance in the Bayer shirt, Chelsea FC is interested in signing the 21-year-old. Leverkusen’s managing director Rudi Völler recently emphasized that Havertz would definitely not change before leaving the Europa League.

In the second half, Leverkusen then played more pleasantly forward, but the really big chances did not materialize. Handanovic was able to defuse a long-range shot by Kerem Demirbay (61.). Inter came more and more counter-opportunities, Alexis Sánchez missed the best chance of the preliminary decision against a strong parrying Hradecky (66th). A penalty against Leverkusen was withdrawn shortly before the final whistle – Karim Bellarabi had fouled Christian Eriksen, but Barella had previously dropped the ball (90th). Even seven minutes of stoppage time were no longer enough for Bayer to equalize.

In the second quarter-finals of the evening, Manchester United struggled against Danish representatives FC Copenhagen for a long time. The English only prevailed 1-0 (0-0) in extra time, Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty (95th). Despite clear field advantages United played hardly any chances at the beginning and allowed some counter attacks, which Copenhagen did not play well to the end. The supposed opening goal by Mason Greenwood shortly before the break (45th) was not recognized after consultation with the video assistant.

After the break, first Greenwood (57th), then Bruno Fernandes only hit the post (63rd). Substitute Mikkel Kaufmann had Copenhagen’s best opportunity, his shot from eight meters stuck to the United defense (66th). Even with the running of the game, the Danish outsider did not show any strength or concentration problems and made the game more and more open, the draw after 90 minutes was quite appropriate.

The class difference only became noticeable in the extension. Goalkeeper Karl-Johan Johnsson kept Copenhagen in the game with brilliant saves against Anthony Martial (93rd) and Juan Mata (99th, 105th + 3) and set the Europa League record of 13 saves in one game. When Fernandes hit a penalty (95th), Johnsson had no chance. Andreas Bjelland had previously brought down Martial with a slight bump.

The two remaining semi-finalists will be determined on Tuesday evening (9 p.m., stream: DAZN). While Inter will meet the winner of the game between Shakhtar Donetsk and FC Basel on Sunday, Wolverhampton Wanderers and FC Sevilla will play out the opponents of Manchester United or FC Copenhagen in the second semi-final on Monday.