May 10 – German champions Bayer Leverkusen have reached the final of the Europa League, but left it late to keep their season-long unbeaten streak in one piece.
Xabi Alonso’s side have now extended their record-breaking unbeaten run to 48 games courtesy of a late goal from Bayern Munich loanee Josip Stanisic. They have just four games left to play in the current season.
On the verge of creating history, they could be the first side ever to complete a full season unbeaten in all competitions.
The Croatian scored in the 97th minute to mark Leverkusen’s twelfth stoppage-time game-changer of an incredible season, which has earned the team the nickname ‘Bayer Neverlusen’.
24-year-old Stanisic will have plenty to answer for when he returns to his parent club, Bayern Munich, next month after playing such an important role in Leverkusen’s German and European success.
With an invincible treble on the cards, Bayer Leverkusen could look to complete one of the most remarkable seasons in football history by the end of the month.
The result saw the German Champions surpass Benfica’s 59-year-old unbeaten record in dramatic fashion, as the side surrendered a 2-0 lead to Roma who fought hard to level the tie in the second half.
An own-goal from Roma’s Mancini gave Leverkusen the aggregate advantage, but the Germans still needed Stanisic’s late equaliser to stay unbeaten in all competitions.
With an invincible treble on the cards, Bayer Leverkusen could look to complete one of the most remarkable seasons in football history by the end of the month.
The four games left on Leverkusen’s calendar include the German cup final versus FC Kaiserslautern and the Europa league final, where they will meet Atalanta in Dublin on the May 22.
Fellow finalists Atalanta impressed versus Marseille on Thursday night with a 3-0 victory in front the home fans, tallying an aggregate semi-final score of 4-1.
They have proved plenty on their mission to reach the final, earmarked by a dominant 3-0 win over Liverpool at Anfield.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1732314997labto1732314997ofdlr1732314997owedi1732314997sni@g1732314997niwe.1732314997yrrah1732314997