ONE | system 10/05/2024 00:27
Absolute madness in Leverkusen (Reuters)
Many said that what Real Madrid does every year and every time they play in the Champions is no longer logical, but there is a team that, if you look at just one season, does things no less crazy. Bayer Leverkusen is simply indomitable, as yesterday (Wednesday) they came back from 2:0 to 2:2 in the 97th minute (!) against Roma.
What’s amazing is that even when it was 2:1 behind, Xavi Alonso’s team would still advance to the finals, after winning 2:0 last week. Despite this, it was important for the new German champion to keep the streak, and she not only kept it, but broke a tremendous record.
Leverkusen has now broken the European record for consecutive games without a loss, reaching no less than 49 of them and overtaking Benfica, who had 48. They have already taken the championship in Germany and there they have two more games left to maintain the perfect balance, against Bochum and against Augsburg. In the cup final, she will meet Kaiserslautern and in the European final, Ataltana. In other words, she is four games away from finishing an unbeaten season and with the only three titles she competed for, not caught.
Bayern Leverkusen players celebrate at the end (Reuters)
49 games, nine draws and 40 wins, simply unfathomable numbers for a team that until Alonso’s arrival last year was still fighting for relegation. Summary of dramas this season: 94th minute vs. Bayern Munich, 94th minute vs. Karabakh, 94th minute vs. Augsburg, 91st minute vs. Leipzig, 91st minute vs. Stuttgart, 92nd minute vs. Karabakh, 93rd + 97th minute vs. Karabakh, 91st minute vs. Hoffenheim, 97th minute vs. Dortmund, 97th minute against Stuttgart and 97th minute against Roma. There really are no words.
“Roma almost made a miracle, but Leverkusen responded with a miracle of its own”, they concluded in ‘Football Italia’. “Alonso and his players refuse to lose, they didn’t need this goal at all, but they are invincible.” In Germany they added: “To say unbelievable is no longer true, on the contrary, if Rome had kept the advantage it would have been unbelievable.” Leverkusen can undoubtedly be defined as the Real Madrid of the Europa League.
Leverkusen celebrates (Reuters)
