Roma beat AC Milan as Marseille see off Benfica on penalties – Europa League and Europa Conference League round-up | Football News
Roma beat AC Milan in their Europa League quarter-final tie, while Marseille needed penalties to see off Benfica to reach the competition’s semi-finals.
Daniele De Rossi’s Roma side, who won the first leg 1-0, scored two quickfire goals through Gianluca Mancini and Paulo Dybala to strengthen their advantage.
Despite Mehmet Zeki Celik’s red card for a late challenge on Rafael Leao and Matteo Gabbia pulling one back in the 85th minute, the hosts managed to see out the match.
Last season’s runners-up Roma, who were beaten on penalties by Sevilla after a 1-1 draw in the final, advanced to their fourth European semi-final in a row.
They will next face the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen, who beat West Ham.
Marseille had to rely on spot kicks to claim their last-eight win over Benfica, who went to the Stade Velodrome with a 2-1 advantage.
Faris Moumbagna opened the scoring for the hosts but both defences proved to be stubborn as the match went the distance after extra-time.
Antonio Silva and Angel Di Maria missed from 12 yards before Luis Henrique scored the decisive spot-kick to send the French club through.
Marseille will take on Atalanta in the semi-finals, who went down 1-0 at home to Liverpool but progressed with a 3-1 aggregate win after their shock victory at Anfield last week.
Europa Conference League: Fiorentina and Olympiakos through
Fiorentina – last year’s runners-up – reached the Europa Conference League semi-finals beating Viktoria Plzen.
Nicolas Gonzalez and Cristiano Biraghi both scored in extra-time to edge 10-player Viktoria Plzen 2-0 in the second leg after the opening leg ended in a goalless draw.
Plzen’s Brazilian midfielder Cadu received a red card in the 66th minute.
The Italian team will face Belgian side Club Brugge, who beat PAOK 2-0 to round off a 3-0 aggregate quarter-final win. Ferran Jutgla scored both goals in the second leg.
Olympiakos also needed penalties to beat Fenerbahce, winning the shoot-out 3-2. Their quarter-final had also ended in a 3-3 aggregate draw over two legs. They will take on Aston Villa in the semi-finals, who also beat Lille on spot kicks.