Bayer Leverkusen's coach, Xabi Alonso, affirmed that his team deserves to win all three titles they are competing for this season after advancing to the final round of the UEFA Europa League at the expense of Italian club Roma last night. Leverkusen recently won the German Bundesliga title and has also reached the final of the DFB-Pokal on May 25th. Last night, they extended their unbeaten streak to 49 consecutive matches across all competitions, surpassing the European record previously held by Benfica from 1963 to 1965.
Leverkusen achieved this feat after a late comeback, equalizing at 2-2 after the visiting Italian team initially led by two goals. This result secured Alonso's team a 4-2 aggregate win in the semi-finals, allowing them to compete in the final scheduled for May 22nd in Dublin.
Alonso stated, “We will play two finals within a week as a result. We showed great resilience today after their second goal. I looked into the eyes of my players afterward, and I saw that they want more. We still have the chance to win three titles. The players deserve to win all three titles.”
Leverkusen was somewhat fortunate when Roma defender Gianluca Mancini unintentionally caused the ball to enter his own net in the 82nd minute. Substitute Josip Stanisić scored the equalizer for the German team just before the final whistle, allowing the team to enter the record books, while the Croatian international who scored stated that it was one of the greatest moments of his football career.
Stanisić added, "It certainly is one of the greatest moments, and we knew what was at stake. We truly wanted to reach the final, and I think that was evident to you throughout the 90 minutes today. I don’t think we would have cared in the end if we lost, yet we progressed because we really wanted to get to the final. But the situation is much better now."
As for Roma, they aimed to reach the Europa League final for the second consecutive year after losing on penalties to Sevilla last year, but their hopes were dashed in the dying moments of the match. Regarding this, Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italy, "When you manage to come back from being 2-0 down and get close to a miracle knowing they haven't lost all season, you feel the pain of conceding a goal in this way; it hurts."
