Tonight’s semi-final duel between Leicester and Roma is certainly a match of disappointment. Disappointment from both clubs, as the season hasn’t gone according to plan, on either domestic or European track. Both clubs, and their fans especially, expected this season to be more successful, as they aimed at the Champions League spot, and yet, at the end of April, they are nowhere near. After all, the Foxes lost that spot twice in a row in the last round of the Premier League, but this season, contrary their expectations, they are 12 points away from the Conference league, and 18 from the fourth place. In Italy, Roma fans secretly hoped that Jose Mourinho’s arrival will lift them to the Champions League spot, but the Portuguese is not the coach he used to be, so they are currently fighting their fierce rival Lazio for the place in the Europa League.🌍 Where will you be watching today’s semi-final first legs from?#UECL pic.twitter.com/VHeBo6HBIA— UEFA Europa Conference League (@europacnfleague) April 28, 2022 And in tonight’s duel in Leicester, Jose Mourinho counts on Tammy Abraham and other players with Premier League experience to lead the way for younger Italians who are younger. Former Chelsea academy striker is the leading scorer with 24 times in all competitions, and he has equaled a 93-year-old record for a debut season at the club. He is also Conference league top scorer at the moment, and has saved Mourinho many times this season with his goals. And that’s OK, since the Portuguese has given Tammy ‘a new life’.“I’ll never forget Jose’s first few words to me. He said: “Do you want to stay in rainy England or come and enjoy some sun in Rome?” We laughed and had a good chat. He played a massive part in getting me here. I call him my uncle of Italy. I’ll admit it was a very low point in my career. It did mess with me mentally for a bit. It got to a point towards the back end of the season where I was stropping, I was annoyed, because I’m working hard in training and I wasn’t getting the chances. I was doing the best I could, getting in early and finishing late, training drills, finishing drills, and still wasn’t getting a look in” said Abraham to The Athletic about his reasons for leaving Chelsea and why he chose Roma. Leicester boss ahead of Conference League semis: Mourinho is one of the greatsAnd while Jose Mourinho is looking for Tammy to solve his problems at Roma, and ahead of a tough match in Leicester, Marseille’s coach Jorge Sampaoli is deeply in tactics charts ahead of the first leg in Rotterdam, against Feyenoord. The Dutch team are the underdogs in these semi-final matches, but the Argentinian tactician is certainly not thinking like that. Arne Slot, the home team coach plays quick and attacking 4-4-3 football, and he already had success as AZ Alkmaar coach, nearly winning the Dutch title ahead of Ajax and PSV and is third in the table right now, with some TV pundits already suggesting that Slot should succeed Eric Ten Hag in Ajax.8 goals in his last 7 UECL games ⚽️ 🔴⚪️⚫️ Cyriel Dessers is flying 👊@Feyenoord | #UECL pic.twitter.com/qWxsW2jJlu— UEFA Europa Conference League (@europacnfleague) April 28, 2022 He has Luis Sinisterra at his disposal, the quick Colombian winger, who is currently team’s top scorer with 22 in all competition, but also the best scorer in the Conference League, along with Roma’s Abraham. But things could get ‘spicy’ off the pitch as well. Feyenoord fans are famous for it’s hooliganism and the club has been punished so many times because of that, so 50.000 fans will surely give a ‘warm welcome’ to Marseille’s Ultras, who are equally troublesome. Deprived of travel almost everywhere this season in Europe (Rome, Istanbul, Basel, Thessaloniki), Olympian fans will be able to travel in large numbers for the first time, and 2,000 of them should be present at the stadium.Senegal’s Gueye: ’Sampaoli is the worst coach I ever had’And the style of play from his counterpart Slot, as well as the hot atmosphere are two key moments for Saopaoli.“They have intense and long-lasting pressure. We must not be sucked into that. Yes, that’s the key to the game. We will also try to recover the ball as quickly as possible. That’s where decide who has the best chance of winning the match. It’s going to be an intense match, in a stadium with fervor. We will have to stay focused on the pressure of the players in front of us and not on that of the public” said the Argentinian.UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUESemi-finalsThursday22:00: (2.25) Feyenoord (3.40) Olympique Marseille (3.20)22:00: (2.30) Leicester (3.35) Roma (3.10)***odds are subject to change***
