A save and an assist from a world champion, in a decisive moment.
Exequiel Palacios
lived an ecstasy in the
epic qualification
of
Bayer Leverkusen
, who came back from the series against
Qarabag
at home and with an agonizing 3-2 win they won the ticket to the
quarterfinals of the Europa League
, also saving their undefeated record of the season , at all levels of skills.
The leader of the German Bundesliga and a world sensation team had it difficult.
In the first leg he had already overcome a 0-2 lead to take a draw from Azerbaijan when it seemed that he was giving up his undefeated record and this Thursday he repeated the feat thanks to an enviable reaction, pushed by his fans from the stands.
Until the 71st minute, Qarabag had a two-goal advantage, which was left with one less due to the expulsion of Elvin Jafarguliyev, and began to suffer an ending that it could not avoid.
Jeremie Frimpong
's discount (72) and
Patrick Schick
's double
in extra time (90+3 and 90+7) allowed the team led by the Spanish Xabi Alonso to extend their unbeaten streak of games this season to 37, a world record .
In the last goal,
Palacios dropped to the ground to recover a ball as if he were a surgeon and then launched a precise cross to the far post
.
"It wasn't our best performance today, but we won with heart and passion, anything can happen in football," Alonso said.
The rest of the crossings, without surprises and with Di María on fire
Benfica
of Portugal
certified their qualification for the quarterfinals of the Europa League after beating
Glasgow Rangers
1-0 in Scotland this Thursday, in a match that made it clear that,
despite his 36 years, the Argentine Ángel Di María is still being a
star
If in the first half 'Fideo' instilled fear in the stands every time he touched the ball, in the second half, with spaces ahead, he showed that he
still has enough legs and lungs to be a constant nightmare on the counterattack
.
The formula that Benfica appealed to to defeat a Glasgow Rangers team that, despite its efforts, failed to translate the greater drive it showed in the first half into clear scoring opportunities.
The
Liverpool
thing , with Alexis Mac Allister on the bench with rest, was much simpler.
After 5-1 in the first leg, they ended the series with Sparta Prague with a new win, this time at Anfield.
It was 6-1 for the Reds, with Uruguayan Darwin Núñez opening the scoring.
Without representatives in the Champions League quarterfinals, Italian football will have three in the Europa League:
Roma
- with
Leandro Paredes
and
Paulo Dybala
on the bench without action) fell 1-0 against Brighton - with Facundo Buonanotte from the bench and Valentín Ship not called- but made the 4-0 of the first leg count;
Atalanta
- with Juan Musso in goal -
beat Sporting Portugal 2-1 (3-2 overall) and
Milan
won 3-1 at Slavia Prague (7-3).
Meanwhile,
Villarreal
came close to a comeback by beating
Marseille
3-1 in their stadium, but was eliminated in the round of 16 having lost 4-0 in France in the first leg.
For the Spanish team, the Frenchman Etienne Capoue (32), the Norwegian Alexander Sorloth (57) and the Colombian Yerson Mosquera (86) scored.
Marseille, who reduced the gap through Jonathan Clauss at the close (90+4), will find out their quarterfinal opponent on Friday in the draw to be held at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon (Switzerland).