Bayer Leverkusen claimed a 2-0 first-leg victory at Roma to take command of their Europa League semi-final.
Goals from Florian Wirtz and Robert Andrich gave the Bundesliga champions only their second win in Italy.
Roma had just two shots on target with striker Romelu Lukaku cutting an isolated figure before being replaced after 80 minutes.
Substitute Tammy Abraham spurned a golden chance to reduce the arrears in stoppage time.
After an opening half hour short on quality, Leverkusen broke the deadlock when full-back Alex Grimaldo raced on to a misplaced backpass before setting up midfielder Wirtz for his 18th goal of the season.
Hosts Roma hit back with a flurry of chances but were unable to find a leveller before the interval.
Midfielder Andrich then doubled Leverkusen’s lead midway through the second half, firing into the top-left corner from long range.
The victory stretched Xabi Alonso’s side’s unbeaten run to 47 matches in all competitions.
Line-ups
Roma
Formation 4-3-3
- 99Svilar
- 2KarsdorpSubstituted forAngelinoat 62′minutes
- 23Mancini
- 6Smalling
- 37SpinazzolaBooked at 74mins
- 4CristanteBooked at 77mins
- 16ParedesSubstituted forBaldanziat 79′minutes
- 7PellegriniBooked at 30mins
- 21DybalaSubstituted forAbrahamat 90+1′minutes
- 90LukakuSubstituted forAzmounat 79′minutes
- 92El Shaarawy
Substitutes
- 1Rui Patrício
- 5Ndicka
- 9Abraham
- 14Llorente
- 17Azmoun
- 20Renato Sanches
- 22Aouar
- 35Baldanzi
- 52Bove
- 59Zalewski
- 63Boer
- 69Angelino
B Leverkusen
Formation 3-4-2-1
- 17Kovár
- 12Tapsoba
- 4TahBooked at 16mins
- 3Hincapié
- 2Stanisic
- 8AndrichBooked at 76mins
- 34XhakaBooked at 74mins
- 20GrimaldoSubstituted forKossounouat 90+3′minutes
- 30FrimpongSubstituted forPalaciosat 88′minutes
- 21AdliSubstituted forTellaat 77′minutes
- 10WirtzSubstituted forHofmannat 77′minutes
Substitutes
- 1Hrádecky
- 6Kossounou
- 7Hofmann
- 9Iglesias
- 13de Matos Soares
- 14Schick
- 19Tella
- 22Boniface
- 23Hlozek
- 25Palacios
- 32Puerta
- 36Lomb
- Referee:
- François Letexier
Match Stats
Live Text
Match ends, Roma 0, Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2.