As they go to the Europa League final, Leverkusen is 49 games unbeaten
With a 2-2 draw at home against AS Roma on Thursday, Bayer Leverkusen pulled off an amazing late comeback to go to the Europa League final. They won 4-2 on aggregate and established the longest unbeaten run in all competitions, including European games.
Bundesliga winners Leverkusen, who are chasing a triple and have also advanced to the German Cup final this month, played their 49th game without losing to break Benfica’s record from 1963–1965, but they had to fight for the second leg tie.
Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten team will play Atalanta of Italy in the May 22 final in Dublin. Leverkusen will play in their third European final; they won the UEFA Cup in 1988 and lost in the Champions League final in 2002.
“For the mentality we displayed once more today against a strong squad to recover in this way and get to the final, Leverkusen captain Granit Xhaka stated, “We are overjoyed today.” You may see the team’s desire; we didn’t want to slow down. We wanted to keep winning, which we have done 49 times already. We are very satisfied with it. Though Roma is a very experienced and skilled club, I believe the superior team advanced to the final after two games.”
Roma knew they had a mountain to climb after losing the first leg 2-0 at home, but they played coolly in a closely contested game where Leverkusen progressively took charge. Just before halftime, Leverkusen’s Exequiel Palacios struck the post; the rebound bounced off Roma goalie Mile Svilar’s back, but Evan Ndicka removed the danger.
Shortly before the break, Svilar made another spectacular stop, denying Amine Adli and then burying the rebound.
Despite Leverkusen’s push, Roma led when Leandro Paredes scored a penalty shortly before halftime after Jonathan Tah fouled Sardar Azmoun. In the 66th minute, Paredes scored another spot kick after Adam Hlozek handled the ball in the box.
A Leverkusen corner with eight minutes to go confused the visitor defense, which included the up-to-date superb Svilar, and defender Gianluca Mancini unintentionally deflected the ball into his own net at the far post.
Deep into extra time, late replacement Joseph Stanisic equalized for Leverkusen, thrilling the jubilant home supporters, and leaving struggling Roma in disarray.
According to Sky Sports Italia, Roma manager Daniele De Rossi said, “It was a heroic performance, but Leverkusen is a really strong team.” We gave strong performances on both legs, in my opinion. Though the players performed amazing, we lacked enough shots on goal, which occasionally can make the difference.”
With the late goal, Leverkusen has scored twice as many game-tying goals in the last five minutes of games this season as any other side in Europe’s top five leagues combined.
