Victor Boniface is back in goal. The Nigerian striker's rise to prominence with Leverkusen was hampered by an injury sustained just before the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations finals, but he scored on Thursday in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals.
After coming on in the 76th minute, he gave Bayer a bigger advantage over West Ham by scoring the 2-0 winner in added time. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang also scored. But the Gabonese, the competition's all-time top scorer, was unable to prevent Olympique de Marseille's 1-2 defeat at Benfica. Aubame reduced the deficit, his 10th this season in the Europa League. Never before has a player from a French club reached the 10-goal mark in a European Cup in a single season.
In the other two games, Liverpool suffered a heavy defeat at Anfield against Atalanta Bergamo (0-3). Jurgen Klopp rotated his team, leaving Mohamed Salah and Luiz Diaz on the bench. They came on at the start of the second half, but to no avail. Finally, the first leg of the Italian derby went in AS Roma's favor, with a 1-0 win at AC Milan.
