The Europa League finals will start on Monday in NRW with two quarter-finals. For Bayer Leverkusen it is against the Italian top club Inter Milan to reach the semi-finals.
Düsseldorf (dpa) - This Monday in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Europa League goes into the decisive phase with the final tournament.
After Eintracht Frankfurt and VfL Wolfsburg were eliminated, the last German hopes rest on Bayer Leverkusen. In the evening (9 p.m. / RTL and DAZN), the Werkself will play a knockout match with Inter Milan in the Düsseldorf football arena to make it to the semi-finals.
Bayer coach Peter Bosz, who was in the final of the competition with Ajax Amsterdam three years ago, can again fall back on Nadiem Amiri, who was most recently in quarantine at home due to a private corona contact and was unable to participate in the 1-0 win against Glasgow. On Sunday, Amiri cheered in the final training session. "Nadiem is back," said Bosz, who has to do without Charles Aránguiz (yellow card suspension).
In a strong Inter collective, the attacking duo stand out with the Belgian international striker Romelu Lukaku, who has already scored 30 competitive goals for the three-time UEFA Cup winner this season, and the Argentinian Lautaro Martinez. Bayer's central defender Sven Bender said at the final press conference that you shouldn't look at the robust Lukaku alone. "We can't just concentrate on him, because ultimately you have to defend it as a team. Everyone has to support the other."
Because of the corona pandemic, the Europa League will be played to the end this year in tournament form in the four stadiums in Gelsenkirchen, Duisburg, Düsseldorf and Cologne, where the final will take place on August 21. All games from the quarterfinals on are decided in just one duel (without the return leg). In the second game on Monday (9 p.m.), Manchester United and FC Copenhagen will meet in Cologne.
Should the Bundesliga club prevail against the top Italian club and this year's championship runner-up, he would meet the winner of the game between Schachtjor Donetsk and Frankfurt-conqueror FC Basel in the semifinals on August 17th in Düsseldorf. Like the fourth quarter-finals, Sevilla FC - Wolverhampton Wanderers will play this game on Tuesday.
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