Leverkusen staged a late comeback, extending their unbeaten streak to 49 games and securing a spot in their first Europa League final in 22 years.

Their 2-2 draw against Roma resulted in a 4-2 aggregate victory in the semi-final second leg.

They are set to encounter Atalanta, another Italian team, in the final showdown in Dublin on May 22.

According to report, Roma kicked off strongly, creating the game’s initial chances, notably with Romelu Lukaku’s attempt thwarted by Matěj Kovář’s swift intervention.

Despite Leverkusen’s dominance in openings during the first half, their closest opportunity came from Exequiel Palacios, whose shot ricocheted off the post and Mile Svilar before being cleared.

The visitors capitalized on Leverkusen’s missed chances when Jonathan Tah fouled Sardar Azmoun, leading to a penalty converted by Leandro Paredes, halving their aggregate deficit as they headed into halftime.

Following the restart, Leverkusen intensified their offensive efforts, accumulating over 20 attempts on goal.

However, it was Roma who capitalized once more, this time from another penalty.

Adam Hložek was penalized for handball, allowing Leandro Paredes to equalize again and level the overall score.

Despite Roma’s minimal threat on a third goal, Leverkusen seized the opportunity, benefitting from an own goal by Gianluca Mancini off a deep corner from Grimaldo.

As Roma pushed forward in a bid for extra time, Leverkusen exploited their defensive gaps, with Josip Stanišić cutting inside to score, securing Leverkusen’s 49-game unbeaten streak and their spot in the final in Dublin.

The Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL) has announced Bayelsa State as the hosts of the 2023/2024 NWFL Premiership Super Six tournament.

Biztellers reports that the highly-anticipated NWFL Premiership title championship is scheduled to run from Thursday 16th to Sunday 26th May, 2023 in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

It was gathered that Bayelsa was confirmed as host by the NWFL on Tuesday following a review of bid interests from various states to stage the playoff competition.

Chairman, the NWFL, Nkechi Obi, said, “On behalf of the board and management of the NWFL, let me congratulate Bayelsa State for being selected as the hosts for the NWFL Premiership Super Six.

“We hope this opportunity to host a great Super Six will further boost women’s football in Bayelsa and raise the profile of the sport in Nigeria.”

This will be the first time that the NWFL Premiership playoff tournament will be hosted by Bayelsa State.

Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, is also the home ground of Bayelsa Queens, who had a memorable 2022 NWFL Premiership campaign where they famously won the domestic title, WAFU-B playoff and eventually finished third at the 2022 CAF Women’s Champions League held in Morocco.

On the tournament’s schedule, Chief Operating Officer, the NWFL, Modupe Shabi, explained that the Super Six playoff would be played in a round-robin format, with each participating team playing five matches in the race for the coveted title.

Shabi said the participating clubs were expected to arrive Yenagoa on Thursday, 16th May 2024, followed by the draw and pre-match meeting to be held on Friday, 17th May from 10 am.

The playoff tournament would begin on Saturday, 18th May with Matchday One and end with the Matchday Five on Sunday, 26th May.

Three matches would be played on each Match Day, with breaks in between match days.

Biztellers reports that with holders Delta Queens missing out, six giants will battle for the coveted Nigerian league crown, having qualified as the top three finishers from two groups during the regular season of 14 matches.

The six teams include the host team Bayelsa Queens, Edo Queens, Rivers Angels, Confluence Queens, Nasarawa Amazons and Heartland Queens.

In Group A, Nasarawa Amazons finished as group winners with 27 points from 14 matches, followed by Confluence Queens in second with 25 points and Heartland Queens in third with 24 points.

Top in Group B was Rivers Angels with 27 points, four ahead of Edo Queens in second and Bayelsa Queens in third with 22 points from 14 games.

The title winner of this year’s Super Six tournament will represent Nigeria in the WAFU-B qualifiers to qualify for the 4th CAF Women’s Champions League.

Renowned financial investment firm, GTI Group has joined many well-meaning football-loving Nigerians in congratulating the newly appointed Super Eagles Head Coach, Finidi George.

Biztelleres reports that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) recently announced the former Super Eagles winger as the substantive head coach of Nigeria’s senior national football team, Super Eagles, following the expiration of Jose Peseiro’s contract in March 2024.

It was gathered that as strategic partners to the NFF on the President Federation Cup and the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) respectively, the GTI Asset Management and Trust Limited assured that it would continue to play a vital role in helping to reposition and restructure Nigeria’s football ecosystem using international best practices.

Head of Media and Publicity, GTI, Andrew Ekejiuba, said, “The recent appointment of George is a golden opportunity for another indigenous coach to prove his mettle with our senior national team after Stephen Keshi of blessed memory successfully guided the Super Eagles to the 2013 AFCON triumph in South Africa. Therefore, we call on all stakeholders of Nigerian football to rally round George to ensure his tenure is successful.”

Recall that George assisted former coach Peseiro for 20 months during which the Eagles reached the final of the recently concluded Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Côte d’Ivoire, but the team lost narrowly to the hosts by 2-1 in the final game.

Renowned for his attacking prowess and deft touches at the wings during his playing days, George began his club football from the local scene, featuring prominently for Calabar Rovers FC of Calabar and Sharks FC of Port Harcourt before heading to Europe.

He won 62 caps for Nigeria, including featuring at the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cup.

George also won gold, silver and bronze medals from the 1992, 1994, 2000 and 2002 AFCON tournaments.

Prior to his appointment, Finito as he is fondly called by football fans was in charge of two friendly matches in the March 2024 FIFA window where the Super Eagles edged Ghana 2-1 in the first match, ending an 18-year winless streak against the Black Stars, but lost 2-0 to Mali in the second game.

His first official game will be Nigeria’s 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Bafana Bafana of South Africa in June, which would be followed by the second game against Benin Republic in Uyo and Abidjan respectively.

These are must-win ties for the Super Eagles who are lagging in third place in Group C of the African campaign behind Rwanda and South Africa.