Bayer Leverkusen produces astonishing comeback to go 49 games unbeaten and reach Europa League final
By Homero De la Fuente and George Ramsay, CNN
(CNN) — Bayer Leverkusen’s remarkable season took another extraordinary turn on Thursday as a late 2-2 draw against AS Roma stretched the club’s unbeaten run to 49 games.
The 4-2 aggregate victory saw Leverkusen reach a first European final in 22 years, while Josip Stanišić’s 97th-minute strike ensured that the recently-crowned German champion remains undefeated this season.
It means that Leverkusen has now surpassed Portuguese team Benfica’s record from 1963-65 for the longest unbeaten run across all top-level matches since the introduction of European competitions, according to UEFA.
Leverkusen had come into the second-leg match at the BayArena with a two-goal lead, though that advantage was cancelled out when Leandro Paredes converted two penalties for Roma either side of halftime.
The home side dominated possession throughout but struggled to capitalize on several good chances, and it wasn’t until the 82nd minute that Gianluca Mancini’s unfortunate own goal offered hope of a comeback.
Then in the dying moments, with the likelihood of a draw quickly fading, Stanišić made a brilliant run into the box and slotted the ball into the net with the final act of the game, sparking bedlam inside the sellout stadium.
Late goals have become something of a habit for Leverkusen, and this was the 17th time this season that the Bundesliga team has scored in the 90th minute or later.
“To show that personality, that reaction after the second goal, to keep going and after to come back – it means a lot for us,” manager Xabi Alonso said after the game.
“It says a lot about the team, the conviction that we have and it’s great to finally reach the final. Last year we were really close but this year we’re happy (to be) in the final and now against another Italian team.”
Leverkusen will face Atalanta in the Europa League final on May 22 in Dublin, Ireland, and has four games remaining to complete the season without defeat.
Having already ended a 31-year trophy drought by winning a first German league title, Leverkusen can still win two more pieces of silverware this season – the Europa League and the German Cup – against Atlanta and second-tier side FC Kaiserslautern.
Completing an invincible treble while remaining undefeated would certainly go down as one of greatest achievements by a European soccer club, and Leverkusen could become the first team in Bundesliga history to go a whole season without a loss if it wins its final two league matches against VfL Bochum and Augsburg.
According to UEFA, Scottish side Celtic’s unbeaten run of 62 games between 1915 and 1917 is the outright record for a European club, although that only included domestic league matches.
“It’s pure goosebumps,” said Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka after Thursday’s game. “You dream of an atmosphere like this. You dream of games like this. As a kid, you want to be in these games and then when you equalize just before the end and get to the final, it’s incredible. We will definitely enjoy this night now.”
Leverkusen, which has won 40 games and drawn nine this season, resumes its incredible campaign away against Bochum on Sunday.
The-CNN-Wire
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