The second leg of the UEFA Europa League 2025-2026 Round of 16 features a highly dramatic match between two Italian teams, AS Roma and Bologna, at the Olimpico Stadium.
After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, both teams entered the second leg with an equal chance of progressing. With home advantage, Roma were considered slightly favored, but Bologna were the better team in the early stages.
In the 22nd minute, winger Jonathan Rowe opened the scoring for Bologna. Just 10 minutes later, center-back Evan Ndicka equalized for Roma, bringing the game back to square one.
Bologna continued to maintain their advantage by scoring two goals at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second half thanks to strikes from Federico Bernardeschi and Santiago Castro, extending their lead to 3-1.
Refusing to accept defeat, Roma fought back strongly. Donyell Malen and Lorenzo Pellegrini scored in the 69th and 80th minutes respectively, leveling the score at 3-3 and forcing the match into extra time.
During extra time, the turning point came in the 111th minute when Nicolo Cambiaghi scored the decisive goal, securing a 4-3 victory for Bologna. The Northern Italian side advanced to the quarter-finals with a 5-4 aggregate score over two legs.
Many impressive comebacks
The second leg matches also saw several notable comebacks. Braga capitalized on their home advantage to beat Ferencváros 4-0, thus reversing their 0-2 defeat in the first leg.
SC Freiburg also impressed by beating Genk by four goals, securing their place in the next round with a 5-2 aggregate score, despite losing 0-1 in the first leg.
Real Betis had little difficulty overcoming Panathinaikos 4-0, thus advancing to the next round with an aggregate score of 4-1.
Nottingham Forest also showed their mettle by turning the tables after their first-leg defeat, before beating Midtjylland on penalties to secure their place in the quarter-finals.
In the remaining matches, Aston Villa, Celta Vigo, and Porto all secured their positions to advance to the quarter-finals.
According to the draw results, the quarter-final pairings are: SC Freiburg vs. Celta Vigo, Bologna vs. Aston Villa, Porto vs. Nottingham Forest, and Braga vs. Real Betis.
The first leg of the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals is scheduled to take place in the early hours of April 10th.