Bayer Neverlusen! Xabi Alonso’s side break European record for longest unbeaten run as they score 97th-minute equaliser against Roma to reach Europa League final vs Atalanta and make it 49 GAMES without defeat
Bayer Leverkusen has made history. The Bundesliga champions set a new European record of 49 games unbeaten after Josip Stanisic scored yet another final equalizer to seal a 2-2 draw against Roma.
Stanisic, 24, scored with the last kick of the match in the 97th minute to secure a 4-2 victory over the Italians, which in turn booked his place in the Europa League final.
Xabi Alonso’s side simply don’t know when they will be beaten. They were 2-0 down going into the final ten minutes, but after a Gianluca Mancini own goal and then Stanisic’s strike, they have now surpassed Benfica’s 59-year record.
The last time Leverkusen tasted defeat was on the final day of the 2022/23 season, losing 3-0 to VfL Bochum.
They are now on the cusp of an unprecedented treble, having already won a first-ever Bundesliga title, and with the DFB Pokal final, and now a date with Atalanta in Dublin, still to come.
Josip Stanisic’s 97th-minute equalizer against Roma means Bayer Leverkusen has set a new European record of 49 games unbeaten
Xabi Alonso’s team defeated Roma 4-2 to secure a place in the Europa League final
Leverkusen is still on course to win the treble after winning the Bundesliga and with the German Cup final still to come
“You see the desire in the team,” Granit Xhaka, who assisted on the late equalizer, told TNT Sports.
He added: ‘Even after 2-1, 90 minutes and then extra time, we didn’t want to slow the game down, we wanted to score the second goal to stay unbeaten. We are proud of it.’
Alonso was proud of the character and composure his side showed in scoring the late equalizer, but is aware that the late goal may not come one day.
“It will be over at some point,” he admitted to TNT Sports. ‘Hopefully that won’t be the case in the coming games, but that’s football.
‘We had so many chances that we could have scored earlier, but we kept pushing and creating chances.’
Alonso’s side have a knack for making things difficult for themselves, and they did so again, letting their two-goal lead over Roma from the first leg slip away.
The Italian team took a surprise lead from the penalty spot two minutes before half-time, after Sardar Azmoun was brought down by Jonathan Tah. Leandro Paredes stepped up and made no mistake.
Paredes then punished Leverkusen again, scoring another penalty in the 66th minute after Adam Hlozek was judged to have handled the ball following a Roma corner.
Stanisic, 24, scored Leverkusen’s 17th stoppage-time goal of the season
In April, Xabi Alonso’s side secured their first-ever Bundesliga title with a 5-0 win over Werder Bremen
However, Leverkusen never gave up and they regained the lead in the draw when Gianluca Mancini unconventionally headed into his own goal eight minutes from time.
Then came the moment of truth. With time seemingly running out, Stanisic cut in from the right and slid a low goal past Mile Svilar, scoring Leverkusen’s 17th stoppage time goal of the season.
The Croatian international’s strike is the biggest of all 17 because it made history, and the celebrations that followed showed that.
Staff and players on the bench rushed to Stanisic, and at full-time a glowing Alonso rushed onto the pitch to celebrate with his entire team.
Before tonight, Leverkusen was tied with Benfica for the longest unbeaten run in all competitions since the introduction of UEFA club competitions in European football history.
The Portuguese side, led by football icon Eusebio, set their record in 1965, avoiding defeat 48 times in a 15-month period.
Having beaten Leverkusen, they can also become the first side ever to reach 50 games unbeaten when they beat Bochum in the Bundesliga on Sunday, May 12.