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Liverpool Out of Europa League as Leverkusen Advance to Semis

Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp reacts as his team is knocked out by Atalanta. Isabella BONOTTO / AFP
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp reacts as his team is knocked out by Atalanta. Isabella BONOTTO / AFP
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Liverpool Out of Europa League as Leverkusen Advance to Semis

Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp reacts as his team is knocked out by Atalanta. Isabella BONOTTO / AFP
Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp reacts as his team is knocked out by Atalanta. Isabella BONOTTO / AFP

Liverpool crashed out of the Europa League after a 1-0 win against Atalanta that wasn't enough to overturn their quarter-final deficit, while Bayer Leverkusen's 1-1 draw at West Ham took the German champions into the last four on Thursday.
In Jurgen Klopp's last season as Liverpool boss, the Reds were hoping to give the German a memorable farewell in the final in Dublin, AFP said.
But Liverpool had suffered a stunning 3-0 loss in the first leg against Atalanta at Anfield last week.
And although Liverpool have authored some of European football's greatest comebacks down the years against the likes of St Etienne, AC Milan and Barcelona, there would be no miracle escape this time.
Mohamed Salah converted a seventh minute penalty in the second leg in Bergamo after Trent Alexander-Arnold's cross hit Matteo Ruggeri's arm.
However, Klopp's men couldn't breach the stubborn Atalanta defense again.
It has been a brutal week for Liverpool, whose Premier League title challenge was damaged by a shock home defeat against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
"It's mixed emotions. We are out but I'm happy with the game," Klopp said.
"It was clear we gave ourselves a massive hurdle. We wished we could have gone to Dublin but that hasn't happened."
While Klopp contemplates his failure to land the one major trophy to elude him during nine years with Liverpool, Atalanta can dream of winning the second silverware in their 116-year history after the 1963 Coppa Italia.
Bidding to reach their maiden European final, Gian Piero Gasperini's team will face Marseille in their first European semi-final since the 1988 Cup Winners' Cup.
Fresh from clinching their first Bundesliga title last weekend, Leverkusen survived a scare from West Ham before advancing 3-1 on aggregate.
In the semi-finals, Xabi Alonso's side will play Roma, who saw off Italian rivals AC Milan 3-1 on aggregate.
Leverkusen won the first leg 2-0 but West Ham made the perfect start in east London when Michail Antonio met Jarrod Bowen's pin-point cross with a close-range header in the 13th minute.
West Ham eventually ran out of steam and Jeremie Frimpong struck in the 89th minute with a shot that deflected in off Aaron Cresswell.
"The momentum was with West Ham. To be honest, we were not at our best in the first half. I'm happy to go through. In the Europa League you always have tough moments," Alonso said.
Treble-chasing Leverkusen
Leverkusen are into their second successive Europa League semi-final, while West Ham's exit means for only the third time in the 21st century, England will have no teams in the Champions League and Europa League last four.
Leverkusen's 44-game unbeaten run in all competitions has taken them to the brink of an incredible treble, finally ridding the club of the 'Neverkusen' tag that mocked their decades of underachievement.
Alonso's team, who face second tier Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final on May 25, beat Werder Bremen 5-0 on Sunday to win the Bundesliga title.
At the Stadio Olimpico, Gianluca Mancini put Roma head from close-range in the 12th minute and Paulo Dybala doubled their advantage in the 22nd minute with a blistering strike.
Daniele De Rossi's side were reduced to 10 men in the 31st minute when Zeki Celik was dismissed for a foul on Milan forward Rafael Leao.
Matteo Gabbia got one back in the 85th minute, but his header was little consolation for Milan.
After losing last season's Europa League final against Sevilla, Roma are one step closer to finally winning the competition for the first time.
Roma, who won the Europa Conference League in 2022, are into their fifth European semi-final in the last seven seasons.
In the south of France, Marseille were 4-2 winners in a penalty shoot-out against Benfica following the French side's 1-0 victory in a tie that finished 2-2 on aggregate.
Faris Moumbagna struck in the 79th minute, heading in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's cross to force extra-time.
In the shoot-out, Luis Henrique scored the winner for Jean-Louis Gasset's side after Benfica duo Angel Di Maria and Antonio Silva missed their kicks.

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Naomi Osaka Loses to Karolina Muchova in US Open Second Round  

Japan's Naomi Osaka reacts during her women's singles second round tennis match against Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on day four of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
Japan's Naomi Osaka reacts during her women's singles second round tennis match against Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on day four of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
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Naomi Osaka Loses to Karolina Muchova in US Open Second Round  

Japan's Naomi Osaka reacts during her women's singles second round tennis match against Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on day four of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
Japan's Naomi Osaka reacts during her women's singles second round tennis match against Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on day four of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)

Seemingly back in her US Open match, suddenly a point from getting to a third set, Naomi Osaka lost her way Thursday night, missing forehand after forehand until she ceded that game and chucked her racket, sending it clattering on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

Not much later, she was out of the tournament, eliminated 6-3, 7-6 (5) by Karolina Muchova in the second round of an event where Osaka won two of her four Grand Slam titles.

“It's a little rough, because I do take these losses really personally. It’s like a dramatic word, but I feel like my heart dies every time I lose,” said Osaka, the champion at Flushing Meadows in 2018 and 2020, and at the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021. “It sucks a lot, but I’ve been trying to be more mature and learn and talk more about them.”

Osaka — once ranked No. 1 but now No. 88 after missing nearly 1 1/2 years because of mental health breaks and time off to have a baby — struggled for much of the early going, dropping five consecutive games and 22 of 26 points in one stretch.

But she played much better in the second set, getting her only break of the match to lead 5-4 and yelling “Come on!” when Muchova netted a forehand. The crowd roared for Osaka.

Serving for that set, Osaka hit a 119 mph ace, her fastest of the match, to lead 40-love. That gave her three chances to extend the match to a third set. That's when Osaka really faltered, making five forehand errors, with a double-fault mixed in, to waste all three of those set points and, worse, get broken.

“During the pressure moments, I got nervous, and I don’t know if I just have to keep playing more matches and get used to that feeling, especially on a really big stage,” Osaka said. “Honestly, if I get past the disappointment, I feel pretty proud of myself to have gotten that many opportunities while still feeling like I could have played much better.”

When they got to the tiebreaker, it was Muchova who asserted herself, then used some scrambling defense on the last point, flinging the ball back over the net and seeing Osaka send a swinging volley out.

“This is unbelievable — the atmosphere and the people. This is crazy energy,” said Muchova, a 28-year-old from the Czech Republic.

She enjoyed a breakout season in 2023, reaching the final at the French Open before losing to Iga Swiatek, and the semifinals at the US Open before exiting against eventual champion Coco Gauff. But shortly after that run at Flushing Meadows, Muchova left the tour because of an injured right wrist and she had surgery in October.

She was sidelined until this June; her Grand Slam return was a first-round loss at Wimbledon last month.

“Honestly, this year, the biggest win for me is that I could play again,” Muchova said. “This is just a cherry on top, to be here again, in this stadium.”

On this brisk evening, with the temperature dipping to 70 degrees after topping 90 on Wednesday afternoon, Muchova did not look at all like someone who is currently ranked 52nd.

Using a pen to jot down thoughts in a notebook during changeovers, Osaka was never able to seize control of the on-court exchanges.

Her groundstrokes were not as perfect as they were during a 6-3, 6-2 victory over 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko on Tuesday. Osaka did not make a single unforced error until the second set of that one, which became her first win against an opponent ranked in the top 10 in more than four years.

But if Osaka played so-so this time, Muchova was the one who looked terrific, whether serve-and-volleying or mixing in slices, finding her spots with serves or turning up the power when she wanted.

From the moment Osaka went ahead 3-2 at the start, everything went in Muchova's direction through the end of that set. And just as it seemed Osaka was getting back into the contest — with thousands of spectators supporting her — her forehand let her down.