Mario Gotze won the most important title a soccer player can win on this planet early in his career. He was just 22 when he scored Germany’s only goal of the game against Argentina in the 2014 World Cup final. Götze, now 29 years old, has not played a role in the national team for a long time. But, as he revealed in several interviews, he still has a dream of winning the title: he wants to win the Champions League.
The way there is long. Because after unfortunate years at FC Bayern and the not exactly successful return to Borussia Dortmund, Götze has now landed at PSV Eindhoven. And they don’t play in the Champions League. Not even in the Europa League. But in the new Europa Conference League – the third division among the European cups. And there too, his wish for a trophy will not come true, at least not this season.
It’s not because of Götze. He played well in the second leg of the quarterfinals on Thursday evening. But even the good performance of the former world champion could not prevent the end. Götze prepared Era Zahavi’s opening goal (27th minute) in the 2-1 defeat at home against Premier League club Leicester City. However, the English turned the tide thanks to goals from James Maddison (77′) and Ricardo Pereira (88′). In the first leg in Leicester, both teams had separated goalless.
Götze was particularly convincing before the break as a source of ideas and pace in the team of German coach Roger Schmidt, who wants to leave the club after this season. There is a move to Benfica Lisbon in the room. After the half-time break, Leicester pushed for an equalizer and put pressure on the defense around former Augsburg player Philipp Max. Maddison equalized three minutes after replacing the exhausted German and eleven minutes later Ricardo Pereira scored the deserved winner and shattered the Dutch dream.
Leicester will meet AS Roma in the semi-finals on April 28 and May 5, who clearly won 4-0 (3-0) against the surprise team Bodö/Glimt in their own stadium. The first leg went to the Norwegians 2-1. Eindhoven’s league rival Feyenoord Rotterdam is also in the semifinals. The Dutch won 3-1 at Slavia Prague. In the first leg, the teams had separated 3:3. The round of the last four teams is completed by Olympique Marseille, who also won their second duel with the Greeks in a 1-0 win at PAOK Saloniki (first leg: 2-1). The final will take place on May 25 in Tirana, Albania.
