On March 28th, German soccer star Voller made public his expectations for the UEFA Cup semi-finals, eager to see Roma and Leverkusen go head-to-head and favoring the team with the better performance to win the final.
Roma and Leverkusen have both advanced to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup and are in the same half of the competition. If they make it through, a semi-final meeting would be expected. Voller has worked for both Roma and Leverkusen, and has been in charge of Roma as coach and Leverkusen as sporting director for a long time.
Voller said bluntly, "Can Roma win the UEFA Cup? The answer is yes, but unfortunately it might mean beating my former team Leverkusen, and Roma is also a favorite in my mind. If the two teams meet in the semi-finals, who do I favor? There are no absolute powerhouses at this level of competition."
Voller then continued his analysis: "Roma and Leverkusen are both doing very well in the league, especially under the leadership of Leverkusen's new coach, Alonso, and the team's situation has improved significantly. I really hope that both teams can reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup. As for the final, of course only one team will advance and the one that performs better will win."
Voller also praised Napoli, another powerhouse in Serie A: "Napoli has been as dominant in Serie A this season as Bayern has been in the Bundesliga for years. I'm curious to see how they've done it, it's unbelievable. It's not about competition, it's about Napoli being too strong. At the moment, Napoli are playing some of the best soccer in Europe."
Finally, Voller's comments on the Napoli player were quite in-depth: "Was the Kvaratskhelya deal worth it? We always talk about his and Osmeen's goals, but when I saw Napoli's previous game against Eintracht Frankfurt, I was shocked by Lobotka's performance. As for the Champions League, anything is possible and they don't need to fear any opponent."