After the second day of 2020 Europa League’s last-16 matches, all quarterfinalists are known. The final tournament will take place on four different venues in Germany.
There were not a lot of goals scored during the second day but we did get to see at least one surprising result.
Bayer Leverkusen (GER) – Rangers (SCO) 1-0 (4-1 agg)
After grabbing a win in Scotland some six months ago, Bayer did the same on BayArena. Leverkusen was controlling the entirety of the match, never for a second allowing the Scottish side to do something significant.
Kai Havertz had the first significant chance for Bayer but was not able to score. However, his attacking teammate Moussa Diaby managed to grab a goal for Leverkusen in the 51st minute of the match, setting the final result and a secure with for the German side.
Seville (SPA) – AS Roma (ITA) 2-0
Once again Seville showed why they are the Europa League experts. Although not considered the favorites before the match, the Andalusian side pressed on and already had a couple of chances in the first few minutes of the game.
Their first goal came after a defender Sergio Reguilon scored in the 22nd minute of the match. But Roma’s woes did not end there as they found themselves two-nil down as En Nesyri scored just before the half time mark.
Seville pulled back a bit in the second but the Roma players didn’t know what to do. They had the ball, kept attacking but somehow couldn’t make a significant effort. Seville deservedly goes through to the next stage of the Europa League and keeps their hopes alive of another trophy.
Basel (SUI) – Eintracht Frankfurt (GER) 1-0 (4-0 agg)
Basel and Eintracht played the most uninteresting match of the evening. Frankfurt was clearly phased by the break as they had played their last competitive match over a month ago. Meanwhile, Basel simply had to hold on to a three-goal lead they had in the first match.
Both sides were uninspired through the entire match until Fabian Frei scored the only goal of the match in the closing minutes. This was a lock for Basel to go through the next phase of the competition.
Wolverhampton (ENG) – Olympiacos (GRE) 1-0 (2-1 agg)
The Premier League side entered the match as clear favorites against the Greek champion. Wolves managed to grab the lead in the opening period of the game after Raul Jimenez turned the penalty into a Wolverhampton lead. But Olympiacos never gave up. They were hard-pressed to score and score they did. Mady Camara grabbed the equalizer but unfortunately for the Greeks, the goal didn’t stand after the referee made a VAR-assisted decision.
Olympiacos kept attacking in the second half and had a few solid chances. The best one came in the closing minutes of the match when Egyptian attacker Koka headed the ball towards the goal but was denied by Rui Patricio. The Portuguese goalkeeper emerged as the unsung hero of the match as he managed to keep a clean sheet and send the Wolves to the quarterfinals.
