Athletic Club-Roma 3-1: Nico Williams' brace eliminates the Capitoline team. Giallorossi down to ten men for 80'

Bilbao 13 March 2025 – A match of great value was needed to confirm the victory at the Olimpico in San Mames, but that was not the case. Roma falls 3-1 againstAthletic Club of Bilbao and say hello to theEuropa League in the round of 16. The brace of Nick Williams and the network of Yuri berchiche they eliminate the Capitoline team, while the Giallorossi pride's goal is signed Leandro Paredes on penalty kick. Much regret in the Roma team for the expulsion of Hummels after just 11 minutes of play that completely ruined the match in Spain.

First half

Agirrezabala is the choice between the posts of Valverde, covered by the four-man line composed of From Marcos, Unai Nuñez, Paredes e Yuri berchiche. In the median From Galarreta e jauregize They are the two players called upon to dictate the pace of the game. Inaki Williams initially on the right, Unai Gomez in the center e Nick Williams on the opposite side, while it is Sannadi the first striker chosen for the match. On the other side of the fence Ranieri largely confirms the expectations of the eve. Hummels at the centre of defence, flanked by Mancini and N'Dicka in the line ahead of Silker. Rensch to the right, Angelino on the left next to the expert midfield pair, made up of Crystalline e Paredes. Dybala e Baldanzi they are two attacking midfielders behind dovbyk.

La Roma starts well, the Capitoline team defends itself with order and tries to contain the initial outbursts of the Basques. In possession, however, they try to play the ball, without rushing, so as to force the home team to expose themselves. The game plan seems to be to not get crushed, also managing the pace, but this completely goes out the window in the eleventh minute. In the dribbling phase Hummels give the ball to Sannadi and in an attempt to recover he misses the ball, sliding over the opposing attacker in open play. Turpin has no doubts and commands the foul, waving the red card towards the German defender. The mistake is unforgivable because it comes from an experienced player like him. The VAR confirms the referee's decision and amid the protests of the Giallorossi, he is also cautioned Silker.

The extra man gives space and turbocharges the forcing of the Bilbao. The two brothers Williams they are the first to show themselves. At 17' it is Iñaki the first to conclude with a powerful shot, but without hitting the target. At 23' the brother Nico in slalom he sows the Roma defenders, but his right-footed shot hits the inside of the post, in the middle he also tries Sannadi, launched only in front of Silker, but his touch underneath is lopsided and doesn't find the goal. Immense suffering already for the Giallorossi, when the match hasn't even reached half an hour of play.

The Capitoline citizens also courageously try to come out of their shell. They rely on the shores of dovbyk and the talent of Dybala and Baldanzi to find some precious breaks also to break the opponent's siege, but it is only one real opportunity for the Giallorossi. In fact, on the corner developments Crystalline he anticipates the opposing defence well at the near post, but his attempt is wide to the left of Agirrezabala. The end of the first half seems to smile on the Giallorossi, always attentive to managing the opponents' advances, including the good save by Svilar on the right foot from the edge of the area Paredes, but in the last action of the last minute of injury time comes the joke. In the third minute after 45' comes the cross from the left of Inaki Williams, touch of Sannadi, which extends the sphere between the feet of Nico Williams. Number 10 kicks towards goal and the deflection of Angelino puts out of action Silker in great recovery at the far post. It's 1-0 for theAthletic Club at the end of the first half of the race.

Second half

The San Mames challenge resumes with the entry of Berenguer for Unai Gomez, while Ranieri does not change his men for the second half. As you can imagine, the second half of theAthletic Club, hunting for the goal that could be worth progressing to the next round. Ranieri he sees his players in great difficulty and tries with the insertion of Soulé for dovbyk to make his boys gain meters. He does it, but he also exposes himself to counterattacks. On one of these he gets the better of Nick Williams on his markers and Rensch he is forced to show a yellow card to stop the Basques from counterattacking.

Ranieri two more substitutions are played, throwing into the mix also pisilli e Shomurodov, For Baldanzi e DybalaThe Uzbek striker was immediately the protagonist, because he was launched very well in depth, where he also managed to create space for himself to shoot, but he saved well at the near post Agirrezabala, deflecting the ball into a corner. However, he is even better on the subsequent counterattack Silker, exceptional on the occasion, because Berenguer launched on the counterattack, he arrives in the area and one-on-one with the goalkeeper, he tries to beat him with a low shot, but the Giallorossi goalkeeper gets past him. Monumental intervention to save the ball. 

The rescue of Silker but it is not enough to maintain the single goal gap, in fact in the 67th minute the goal arrives that overturns the result of the first leg. On the developments of a corner kick, taken by Berenguer, Yuri Berchiche he beats everyone to the near post and scores the 2-0 goal for theAthletic Bilbao. San Mames is a mess for the Basque team's second goal. With the double advantage, the home team also begins to manage its energy, entering Lekue for Aitor Paredes, while the Paredes yellow and red and Inaki Williams are cautioned for a heated argument in the Roma area. A few minutes later it's time for guruzeta, which he notes Sannadi, praised by San Mames for having procured the expulsion of Hummels.

the match now seems destined to the triple whistle without further shocks, but the teams have not exhausted their emotions for the match in progress. In fact, at 83' the talent of Nick Williams, who enters the area on the centre-left, dribbles past everyone, then with a touch under the ball goes over Silker for the 3-0 of the Basques. At home Roma for the finale they enter El Shaarawy e Saelemaekers for Crystalline e Renschwhile for theAthletic Club enter Gorosabel e Prados for Inaki Williams e Ruiz De Galarreta. But there is also room for Roman pride at the end of the match. On the opening of Saelemaekers for El Shaarawy, De Marcos brings him down in the penalty area and it's a penalty for the Capitoline team and a yellow card for the Basque defender. From the spot Paredes he gives himself the satisfaction of a goal, then in the final rush Soulé is also cautioned, but the substance of the match does not change. In Bilbao he wins and goes to the quarter-finalsAthletic Club, beaten 3-1 by Roma, who pays for the more than eighty minutes of numerical inferiority.