Leverkusen salvage unbeaten run in Qarabag, Liverpool win in Prague
DPA
·7 min read
Patrik Schick scored in stoppage time as Bayer Leverkusen came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Qarabag in the Europa League last 16 on Thursday and stretch their unbeaten run throughout the season to 35 matches.
Liverpool triumphed 5-1 at Sparta Prague, with Darwin Nunez grabbing a brace and his first strike the 1,000th Reds goal in the era of their manager Jürgen Klopp.
In other first leg action, Roma routed Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0, West Ham United lost 1-0 at Freiburg, Olympique Marseille trounced 10-man Villarreal 4-0, and AC Milan beat 10-man Slavia Prague 4-2.
Benfica drew 2-2 with 2022 runners-up Rangers, the day after the other Lisbon club, Sporting, were also held, 1-1, by Atalanta.
The return legs are next week.
Qarabag, the first team from Azerbaijan to reach a European knock-out stage, were on fire against harmless Leverkusen in the first half.
Yassine Benzia opened the scoring in the last 16 first leg match in Baku in the 26th minute after Jonathan Tah lost the ball, and another Leverkusen mistake allowed Juninho to round goalkeeper Matej Kovar and net the second on the stroke of half-time.
Xabi Alonso's Bundesliga leaders were far from the form of their two victories against the same opponents in the group stage but regrouped when originally rested stars Florian Wirtz and Granit Xhaka came on.
Wirtz chipped Leverkusen back into the game in the 70th minute after intercepting a terrible back pass, and Schick nodded the equalizer in time added on off Robert Andrich's cross.
"We absolutely didn't underestimate the opponent. We knew that they are dominant and aggressive," Tah said. "The [unbeaten] streak is a nice side effect but that's not what it is about."
Premier League leaders Liverpool were untroubled in Prague ahead of a big league match on Sunday against champions Manchester City but were facing another injury concern regarding Ibrahima Konate.
Nunez got his first-half brace after Alexis Mac Allister had opened the scoring. Luiz Diaz grabbed the fourth with a deflected shot in the 53rd, seven minutes after an own goal from Conor Bradley, before substitute Dominik Szoboszlai wrapped up matters in stoppage time.
Mohamed Salah also returned from injury in the 73rd minute to get a few minutes ahead of the Man City clash. He scored a few minutes later but the goal was nullified for offside upon review.
"We are obviously delighted with the result, our performance could have probably been better, it is a bit sane to say that when you won 5-1 but you can't ask for much more, playing away in Europe scoring five goals," captain Andy Robertson said.
Brighton were crushed 4-0 at last year's finalists Roma from Paulo Dybala, Romelu Lukaku, Gianluca Mancini and Bryab Cristante.
West Ham beat Freiburg twice in the group stage but this time lost from an 80th-minute tap by Michael Gregoritsch at the far post. The London side was then denied a penalty for handball in stoppage time after a long video review.
Seven-time European champions Milan had first-half goals by Olivier Giroud, Tijjani Reijnders and Ruben Loftus-Cheek before Christian Pulisic made the game safe in the 85th. David Doudera got a temporary 1-1 equalizer after team-mate El Hadji Malick Diouf was sent off, and their second came from Ivan Schranz.
In Marseille, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got a brace, with Jordan Veretout and an own goal by Yerson Mosquera the others against the 2021 champions Villarreal who had substitute Alberto Moreno dismissed.
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