Juventus scores late to salvage draw with Sevilla in Europa League semifinals

TURIN: Substitute Federico Gatti scored deep into stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw for Juventus against six-time champion Sevilla in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals on Thursday.

Gatti headed in the equalizer in the seventh minute of added time in Turin to keep alive the Italian team’s hopes for a European trophy after a long drought.

Juventus won the competition when it was known as the UEFA Cup three times, most recently in 1993. The team will have to win in the second leg next week to get a chance to claim a first European title since winning the Champions League in 1996.

Sevilla have won the trophy six times and the Spanish squad again proved the are a title contender.

Youssef En-Nesyri scored in the 26th minute to finish a lethal counterattack for Sevilla, which eliminated Manchester United in the quarterfinals. It was the forward’s 18th goal in all competitions.

The visitors suffered a setback when Lucas Ocampos, who had several attempts on goal, had to be substituted in the 34th due to an injury.

Sevilla had another good chance but goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny tipped Ivan Rakitić’s shot over the bar.

Earlier, Angel Di Maria helped Juventus create some pressure but it was the visitors who struck first.

Sevilla have never lost a semifinal in this competition.

Roma stayed on course to claim back-to-back European titles by beating Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 in the first leg of their semifinal.

Jose Mourinho’s team won the the inaugural edition of the third-tier Europa Conference League last year.

Leverkusen has been on the rise under coach Xabi Alonso, who played for Mourinho at Real Madrid, but Roma had the upper hand at Stadio Olimpico.

Edoardo Bove scored the decider in the 63rd. The