Roma challenges Leverkusen’s unbeaten run

• Atalanta battle Marseilles for final ticket

TBundesliga title. The record 46- match unbeaten run. The 3- 0 shutout of Bayern Munich. Forget about all of that for now. Bayer Leverkusen has been thinking about its next opponent for an entire year. The German club will be seeking revenge when it visits Roma in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals today — a rematch from last season at the same stage when Jose Mourinho’s Giallorossi advanced to the final. “We were so close to go to the final last season and we didn’t like the way we went out,” Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah told The Associated Press in an interview. “So, I was actually hoping to play against them again.”

Last May, Roma beat Leverkusen 1- 0 at the Stadio Olimpico in the first leg before a scoreless draw in Leverkusen. The loss in Rome was Leverkusen’s last defeat in Europe and penultimate loss across all competitions before a 3- 0 defeat to Bochum in the final round of last season’s Bundesliga.

“From the first Europa League game against ( Swedish team) Häcken, we spoke about our experience in Rome and now we’re back in the same situation, semifinal vs. Roma,” Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said. “Hopefully we can use this experience well.” In Thursday’s other semifinal, Atalanta visits Marseille.

Leverkusen’s streak of 46 games without a loss is a record across Europe’s “big five” leagues. But that hasn’t stopped Daniele De Rossi who replaced Mourinho in January as Roma’s coach from believing Leverkusen can be beaten again.

“We need to stretch them and move them out of position when they don’t have the ball,” De Rossi said.