Aberdeen will take their place in the group stage of the Europa Conference League after a 3-1 home defeat to Swedish champions BK Hacken in the Europa League play-offs.
As in the first leg, Hacken took a two-goal lead thanks to a first-half double from Ibrahim Sadiq, who is tipped to move to AZ Alkmaar ahead of the transfer deadline.
The Dons eyed another comeback after Bojan Miovski’s VAR-assisted penalty saw him halve the deficit.
However, another VAR penalty decision saw Amor Layouni seal a 5-3 aggregate victory and his side’s spot in the Europa League.
The Dons showed three changes from the away leg, with Jamie McGrath, James McGarry and Richard Jensen all handed their first Aberdeen starts. The Swedes were without Johan Hammar, sent off late in the first leg, but were otherwise unchanged from the 2-2 first leg draw.
Similar to the first leg, the match began in wide open fashion with both sides looking dangerous going forward but vulnerable at the back.
Hacken were comfortable in possession and their 14th-minute opening goal typified that as they patiently worked the ball in front of the Aberdeen defence before Sadiq worked space to hit an unstoppable shot just inside the post from 22 yards.
Aberdeen’s more direct route saw Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes sent through one-on-one with Peter Abrahamsson only to hit straight at the goalkeeper, who raced off his line to narrow the angle
A Leighton Clarkson corner just after the half-hour found Jensen, whose flick reached NIcky Devlin at the back post, but the first-leg scorer could only turn wide of the back post.
Miovski thought he had levelled when he met another Clarkson cross, this time at the near post, but Abrahamsson this time tipped the ball on to the post to deny the North Macedonian.
Aberdeen’s profligacy would come back to bite in the 41st minute when Sadiq flicked the ball over the diving Roos as he raced onto Mikkel Rygaard’s sweet pass through the home defence.
The visitors started the second half looking to kill the game off, with Franklin Tebo heading over from a corner before Srdan Hrstic somehow contrived to blast over the bar with the goal gaping just four yards in front of him.
Aberdeen pulled a goal back almost immediately as Duk went down under Tebo’s challenge. Referee Daniel Siebert initially indicated a dive, but a VAR review saw him change his mind and award a spot-kick.
Miovski stepped up and coolly slotted home from the penalty spot in the 56th minute.
The same man could have levelled matters five minutes later as he raced on to Jensen’s ball over the top before curling agonisingly wide from 18 yards with just the keeper to beat.
Sadiq was denied a hat-trick by the upright but it was the Ghanaian who was brought down by Slobodan Rubezic for the spot-kick that saw Layouni find the bottom corner in the 81st minute, the only surprise being that it took a review to award what always looked a stonewall penalty.
The Dons pushed hard for a goal to set up a grandstand finish but ran out of time.
Leverkusen motivated by Roma loss in 2022-23
Bayer Leverkusen will use last campaign's Europa League loss against Roma as motivation to get the job done this time, so says Xabi Alonso.
Leverkusen were knocked out by Roma after a goalless draw in the second leg of the Europa League semis last season, losing the tie 1-0 on aggregate.
But a few things have changed since then with Alonso's side, who are now on an extraordinary 48-match unbeaten run this campaign, ending Bayern Munich's 11-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga title to secure their first trophy since 1993.
They are also a step closer to a treble, having beaten Roma 2-0 away in the first leg last week and reaching the DFB-Cup final against Kaiserslautern.
"We haven't forget (forgotten) last season, we felt it. We need to use this energy and hopeful we can celebrate at the end. We will put all of our focus on the full 90 minutes. We want to deserve our win and make the final in Dublin," Alonso told reporters.
The Spaniard, however, said Leverkusen will have to be on their toes despite their advantage as he believes Roma will continue to be dangerous opponents under manager Daniele De Rossi, who replaced Jose Mourinho in January.
"A second leg is always a dangerous situation no matter the result before," Alonso said.
"We are preparing to play well with good motivation and at our own game. We want to be aggressive, control and defend well as a team.
"We are expecting Roma to come with the hope of qualifying."
Al Ahli 1-2 Al Hilal: Malcom saves league leaders' winning streak
Malcom’s stunning solo goal finished Al Hilal’s second-half comeback to earn a 2-1 win over Al Ahli in the Saudi Pro League on Monday.
The forward started his run from inside his own half before slotting in the winner, after teeing up Aleksandr Mitrovic for the equaliser just after the interval.
Feras Al Brikan had given Al Ahli the lead in the 30th minute, but the hosts could not hold onto it against the league leaders.
Al Hilal continue their unbeaten league campaign to a 30th match, moving 12 points clear at the top of the table, while Al Ahli remain in third, now 22 points off the AFC Champions League spot.
Data Debrief
Malcom was one of Al Hilal's most influential players; as well as playing a hand in both goals, he had the joint-most shots (five), and the joint-most shots on target (two), and created two chances for his team.
Al Ahli also struggled to cope with Mitrovic's threat, as the Serbian created an xG of 0.61 from his five shots, having 11 touches in the opposition box.
Alonso says Leverkusen can still improve as unbeaten run reaches 48 games
Xabi Alonso believes his Bayer Leverkusen side can still improve after they extended their unbeaten run to 48 matches across all competitions on Sunday, equalling Benfica's European record.
Champions Leverkusen thrashed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the Bundesliga to match Benfica's 48-game unbeaten run between 1963 and 1965 – a record across all competitions in Europe.
Alonso, however, still feels there is more to come.
"Our level, our consistency throughout the season is great. But we are always moving forward. We are always concentrating on the work and improving," he said.
Leverkusen, who are edging closer to an unbeaten season across all competitions, have two league matches remaining and are also set to face Kaiserslautern in the DFB-Pokal final on May 25.
They also hold a 2-0 lead over Roma at the halfway stage of their Europa League semi-final tie, with Thursday's second leg offering them the chance to surpass Benfica's record on home soil.
"It's a big challenge, we have two [Bundesliga] games left, it will be the perfect run. We will certainly try," Alonso said.
"We still have games to play to achieve our big goals in all competitions. The next game is important for us, the second leg of the Europa League semi-final: a chance to reach the final.
"In football it's sometimes difficult to stop. You have to prepare for the next game. The next game is a big game for us. Hopefully we have the chance to be in a European final again."
Leverkusen will play Bochum and Augsburg in their final two Bundesliga games.
Should they progress to the Europa League final, they will then face either Atalanta or Marseille in Dublin on May 22, three days before the DFB-Pokal showpiece game.
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