Sevilla and Juventus drew 1-1 in Turin thanks to a last-minute equalizer while AS Roma won the first leg of the UEFA Europa League semifinals as Jose Mourinho's team beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0. With these results, everything is still open and the finalists will be decided next Thursday in the second legs.
Final scores
Juventus 1, Sevilla 1.
AS Roma 1, Bayer Leverkusen 0.
Once again it was Moroccan striker Youssef En-Nesyri who scored the opening goal against Juventus in the first half of the match in Turin, and the Bianconeri could not manage to equalize in the second half until the very last second with defender Federico Gatti's header. Massimiliano Allegri's side played a difficult clash, with the home fans that were almost left disappointed and now need to win next week in Spain. The Bianconeri reacted in the second half and only had one shot on target in the whole game until the header of the Italian defender, with Allegri who played Federico Chiesa, Paul Pogba and Arek Milik in the second half, after he started with Dusan Vlahovic playing alongside Angel Di Maria. The lack of chances in attack must be fixed in the second leg.
The final result is Rome was very much satisfying for the Italian team as Mourinho's side won 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico against Bayer Leverkusen, with Italian midfielder Edoardo Bove scoring the deciding goal of the game in the second half, after the Giallorossi struggled to generate much. The current UEFA Conference League's title holders will have the chance to play their second European final in a row if they keep the one-goal advantage next week when they will play away at the Bayer Arena in Leverkusen.
Gatti saved Juventus
It wasn't a great game at all for the Italian club as Juventus only had one shot on target for the whole game and struggled with Sevilla's attack in the first half, especially after the Spanish side scored the opening goal. Juventus controlled more of the game in the second half but didn't really create issues for Sevilla's goalkeeper Bono until the very last second of the clash when Gatti's header gave Allegri's team the unexpected draw. The Italian defender replaced the injured Leonardo Bonucci in the second half and scored his second-ever goal with Juventus, and more importantly, helped his club to avoid a defeat that would have changed Juventus' chances to qualify for the 2022-23 Europa League final.
Juve fans can still be optimistic
The Bianconeri fans can still be optimistic despite a disappointing game because Allegri showed in the second half the whole potential of the roster. In fact, Juventus could finally count on many attacking players being healthy, most importantly Paul Pogba who finally showed some of his skills. The French midfielder was out injured for most of the games this season and only played nine games in all competitions this year. Juventus desperately need the best Pogba possible for the remaining clashes of the season, and on Thursday he finally showed some bits of it.
A day to remember for Bove
Talking about midfielders, this was also a day to remember for AS Roma's Bove, who scored his first-ever European goal with the club he grew up with. Bove was born in Rome, he's a Giallorossi fan since he was a kid and he's now part of the history of the Italian side. AS Roma managed to win 1-0 in Rome in the first leg as Mourinho's team played a very solid game and will have to keep the goal advantage in the second leg next week in Leverkusen. Just a draw next week will do it.