Europa League ＞ Champions League

It might be the wrong day to write this, what with the 2-2 thriller that Bayern Munich and Real Madrid played out last night. It may be the deranged rantings of an embittered Arsenal fan whose club has been turfed out of Europe. But the Champions League is not it this year.

Yes, it should be great entertainment when Bayern and Madrid meet again next week at the Santiago Bernabeu, and Kylian Mbappé may well put on a show for PSG against Borussia Dortmund. But this year, all the best stories are in the Europa League.

Europe’s second competition is often slept-on despite its capacity to serve up wild results and—along with the Conference League—introduce more casual fans to more niche clubs and players. This is also a competition where the dominant force is Sevilla, a club that hasn’t won the Spanish league since 1946 but has taken this cup seven times in the last 18 years. It’s a playground for big clubs that are otherwise starved of success, teams with massive fanbases that back them relentlessly regardless of the results. The atmospheres are great, the scorelines are big and impossible to predict, and this year each team still remaining at the semifinal stage could write its own storybook ending.

BAYER LEVERKUSEN

This one’s obvious: Xabi Alonso’s side are unbeaten across 46 matches in all competitions, an astonishing achievement in itself. They’ve already won the Bundesliga for the first time in the club’s history, they’re in the final of the DFB-Pokal—the German cup—and now they’re in a Europa League semifinal with Roma. If they can avoid defeat in seven more matches, starting with a trip to the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday, they will achieve immortality.

There’s added spice here, though: these two met at this exact stage last season, and José Mourinho’s Roma side snuck through to the final with a couple of highly cynical performances and just one goal scored across two legs. Leverkusen will be out for revenge.

ROMA

Speaking of which, the Romans have their own story to tell. It would be an achievement in itself to beat Leverkusen in just one of the two legs, but they’ll be out for more than that. The capital outfit has been reborn under club legend Daniele De Rossi, who replaced José Mourinho as manager with the Portuguese chief’s project in calamitous decline. The Giallorossi triumphed over Brighton and A.C. Milan to get themselves here, and they’ve consistently persevered in a number of close contests across all competitions. This could be Leverkusen’s greatest test remaining this season.

ATALANTA

What can you say about Gian Piero Gasperini’s team? They went to Anfield in the quarterfinals and beat the life out of Liverpool, 3-0, ruining Jürgen Klopp’s last dance. Now they’ve traded a supporting role in the drama for what they’ll hope is a protagonist’s part, particularly as their Serie A form has them on the outside looking in as far as qualifying for the Champions League next season. They’re in good shape to return to this competition, particularly considering that Italy’s UEFA coefficient should earn Serie A some extra spots in Europe under the new system. But if they can win the Europa League, they’ll earn a seat at the top table next year.

MARSEILLE

The boys from Bergamo will have to get past the sleeping giants from the South of France, however. The world’s view of Ligue 1 has been somewhat distorted by PSG’s moneyed dominance over the last decade, but Marseille were perhaps the best supported club in France before the Qataris arrived in Paris and changed everything. It’s been a rough year for L’OM domestically, as they fired head coach Marcelino after a disastrous start and then fired his replacement, Gennaro Gattuso, in February.

They’ve climbed up into seventh under Jean-Louis Gasset, but they’re still some way off a ticket to Europe next season, so winning this competition would be massive for them. It’s also one last dance for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who at 34 has rediscovered some of that lethal instinct that at one time placed him among the world’s premier marksmen. Their guaranteed contribution will be atmosphere: the Stade Vélodrome is one of the true cathedrals of the game, a cauldron that will have a serious fire lit beneath it when Atalanta come to town.

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Thursday, May 2:

ROMA vs LEVERKUSEN (3pm ET, 8pm GMT)

MARSEILLE vs ATALANTA (3pm ET, 8pm GMT)

Thursday, May 9:

LEVERKUSEN vs ROMA (3pm ET, 8pm GMT)

ATALANTA vs MARSEILLE (3pm ET, 8pm GMT)

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TONI TIMELESS

Did you see the through ball that Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos threaded through the Bayern Munich defence to find Vinicius Jr. scampering in behind on Tuesday? It was a moment of pure class, a testament to a passmaster’s sophistication in vision and technique. Bayern had the better of the opening stages, pushing Madrid back into a low block that’s become familiar in their later-round Champions League performances. But all it took was one moment of slack midfield play from Bayern, where they failed to put pressure on one of the best deep playmakers to ever step on the pitch. They allowed Toni Kroos to get his head up and pick a pass. Never do that.

Well, it also took some space-cadet defending from Bayern center back Kim Min-jae, who was one of the hottest properties in world football last summer after winning the Scudetto with Napoli. He turned down Manchester United’s overtures to join Bayern, but he was dropped to the bench earlier this season and was only playing here because of an injury to Matthijs De Ligt.

Kim had no idea the trouble he was in when he allowed Vinicius to drag him out of the Bayern back line. The Brazilian trickster spun him before he could figure it all out, and the timing on the run and the pass was impeccable. It had the look of something Carlo Ancelotti and his coaching team had talked over with the Madrid stars beforehand—an Achilles heel for Bayern, sniped with an arrow. While the Europa League may have the stories, the Champions League at this stage is the absolute pinnacle of the game on a tactical and technical level.⚽︎