German side Bayer Leverkusen continued their unbeaten run in all competitions this season as they played out a 1-1 draw at the London Stadium to knock West Ham United out of the Europa League Thursday night.
West Ham threatened to become the first club to beat Leverkusen this season when Michail Antonio put them ahead in the 13th-minute as the Hammers attempted to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg.
But despite dominating the opening period, West Ham were unable to open the Leverkusen defence a second time.
Xabi Alonso’s side improved significantly in the second half and Jeremie Frimpong scored the equaliser in the 89th minute with a shot that took a significant deflection off Aaron Cresswell and flew past Lukasz Fabianski.
The goal preserved Leverkusen’s incredible unbeaten record since a 3-0 loss at Bochum on the 27th of May 2023, that is, 328 days ago.
The newly crowned German champions have advanced to the semi finals where they will face Italian side A.S Roma, who knocked out compatriots AC Milan 3-1 on aggregate after winning 2-1 at home last night.
It was another disappointing night for English football following the ouster of Arsenal and Manchester City from the Champions League on Wednesday as Liverpool also crashed out of the Europa League despite beating Italian side Atalanta 1-0 away.
Mohammed Salah scored the only goal of the game when he converted a penalty in the 7th minute but the Reds were unable to add to their tally meaning they crashed out 3-1 on aggregate.
Atalanta will now play Marseille in the semi finals after the French side defeated Portuguese outfit Benfica 4-2 on penalties at the Stade Velodrome.
Substitute Faris Moumbagna scored the only goal of the second leg after 79 minutes to take the tie to extra time with the aggregate score level at 2-2.
Marseille scored all of their penalties while Angel di Maria and Antonio Silva missed for Benfica.