José Mourinho (AS Roma coach, winner of Bayer Leverkusen, 1-0): “A semi-final is never easy, but the team was really well balanced, we controlled their counter-attacks quite well, which is a fantastic aspect of their game. We are aware of our strengths and our problems, with all those injured or half-injured, like Paulo (Dybala) or Gini (Wijnaldum). I thought the atmosphere last year against Leicester (in the semi-finals of the Europa League Conference) was something unique, and today it was even more. But players must also know how to control their emotions. We won this first half against a very strong team with a good game. Bove? He is a talented player and a talented young man”.
“There will be no calculations, we will have to win”
Xabi Alonso, Bayer Leverkusen coach
Xabi Alonso (Bayer Leverkusen coach): “We are not satisfied, we obviously did not want this defeat, but there is the return match. We know what we have to do. There will be no calculations, we will have to win, we will have to be concentrated. The reunion with Mourinho (his coach at Real Madrid) ? It had been a long time since we had met, it was beautiful after almost ten years. From a tactical point of view, I expected to face a strong team, they circulated the ball a lot. But in the first ten minutes of play, we had good chances, which we did not materialize […]. They are strong in defense, but we know we could have done better. But let’s think about next week, all is not lost, we will prepare properly.
