THERE were four Super Eagles of Nigeria stars in the matchday squads of three clubs tonight in the UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Europa Conference League, with Ademola Lookman, Raphael Onyedika and Nathan Tella seeing some action while Victor Boniface was an unused substitute.
Lookman got off the bench for Atalanta in their 1-1 draw at Olympique Marseille in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final, replacing goalscorer Gianluca Scamacca just before the hour mark.
Scamacca put the visitors from Italy in front after 11 minutes but the French hosts levelled up nine minutes later through Chancel Mbemba.
Despite chances for both sides in the second half, there were no more goals and the tie will be decided next Thursday when Atalanta welcome Marseille.
In Rome, Bayer Leverkusen took their incredible unbeaten run in all competitions this season to 47 games as they defeated AS Roma 2-0 in the second Europa League semi-final tonight.
Super Eagles striker Boniface was left on the bench as coach Xabi Alonso settled for conservative tactics, but the German champions still found the net twice through Florian Wirtz in the 28th minute and Robert Andrich 18 minutes from time.
Boniface’s compatriot Tella came on for the final 13 minutes as Leverkusen took a healthy advantage back to Germany.
It was a double blow for Super Eagles midfielder Onyedika in Italy as he was sent off and his Belgian side Club Brugge lost 3-2 at Fiorentina in the first leg of their Conference League semi-final.
The in-form Onyedika, who has scored three goals from his deep midfield position in his last five Belgian Pro League appearances, was dismissed tonight after two yellow cards in quick succession — in the 58th and 61st minutes.
Club Brugge held on to 2-2 until M’bala Nzola netted Fiorentina’s third goal in stoppage time.
In the other Conference League semi-final first leg tonight, Morocco striker Ayoub El Kaabi netted a hat-trick as Olympiacos stunned Aston Villa 4-2 at Villa Park.
