The Europa League Round of 16 delivered their verdict on Thursday. OM, qualified for the quarters, know all their potential opponents. And it is very heavy. Starting with two regulars in the last round of the Champions League: Liverpool, who have won it six times (1977, 1978, 1981, 1984, 2005 and 2019) and AC Milan who have won it seven times (1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1994 , 2003 and 2007)!
Already winners of the League Cup (after 1-0, against Chelsea, February 25), the Reds, still in the race for the cup and the Premier League title, can therefore dream of a fabulous quadruple for Klopp in Jurgen’s last season as coach. . They are on a nine-match unbeaten run in all competitions.
Stefano Pioli’s AC Milan went just five games without defeat, won the Serie A title (where they finished second with 16 points) by Inter Milan, and were knocked out of the Italian Cup. As a result, this C3, which the Rossoneri have never won before, is their only real objective at the end of the season, making them formidable.
Invincible Bayer Leverkusen
The stainless Bayer Leverkusen, completely unbeaten in 37 matches this season (32 wins, 5 draws) are probably even more so! Xabi Aonso’s men have the championship title (ten points ahead of Bayern Munich) and the German Cup (they will play their semi-final against D2 club Fortuna Dusseldorf on April 3, while the D3 team (Saarbrucken) gets D2 (second half, Kaiserslautern on April 2). .and so they could consider a treble with C3 (which the club had already won in 1988).
Certainly looking a bit cheaper than these three behemoths, Daniele De Rossi’s AS Roma will be a tough opponent. Because Jose Mourinho’s successor has revived Brighton (0-1, first leg: 4-0) despite their defeat in the round of 16.
For OM, the last three potential opponents, David Moyes’ West Ham, Europa Conference League winners in 2023, Angel Di Maria’s Benfica and Gasparini’s Atalanta Bergamo therefore seem the least difficult to address. But in all cases nothing will be easy…
(TagsToTranslate)Luc Hagège
