Bayer Leverkusen advances to UEFA Europa League final, play ...

Bayer Leverkusen might have qualified for a European final on Thursday, but the celebrations might well have been about something no other UEFA club has ever done.

A 2-2 second leg draw secured a 4-2 aggregate win over Roma in the Europa League semifinals, sending the Bundesliga champions to the tournament’s final.

However, in a more remarkable achievement, Leverkusen has now gone 49 straight competitive games without defeat, which is a record for any UEFA club since the advent of European continental competition. Benfica’s 48-game run spanning games played from 1963-65 was the previous gold standard.

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Leverkusen’s last defeat came nearly a full year ago, with the club concluding its previous Bundesliga campaign with a 3-0 loss at Bochum on May 27, 2023.

Since then, Xabi Alonso’s side has gotten a win or draw in every single one of its 49 competitive fixtures across the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and the Europa League in the 2023-24 season.

Somehow, this run includes a staggering 17 goals in stoppage time, 12 of which changed losses into draws or draws into wins.

That included an equalizer against Roma. Despite seeing the Serie A side pushing to force extra time with one last goal, Leverkusen still pushed on in pursuit of history.

Seven minutes into second-half stoppage time, late substitute Josip Stanišić sprinted up the right flank. Granit Xhaka could have sent him to the corner to protect the lead, but the Swiss midfielder wanted that 49th game without a loss.

Xhaka’s pass guided Stanišić into the area, where he cut inside of the scrambling Roma defense before picking out the bottom corner, beating Mile Svilar and securing yet another dramatic late draw for Leverkusen.

In a post-match interview broadcast by CBS Sports Network, Xhaka said that Leverkusen took pride in pursuing the record rather than merely hanging on for a place in a continental final.

“Of course!” declared Xhaka when asked about pursuing a 49th game without a loss. “You see the desire from the team. Even after 2-1, in the 90 minutes, in extra time, we didn’t want to slow down the game. We wanted to score the second goal to be unbeaten [for] 49 games now, and we are proud about it.”

Leverkusen will face Atalanta on May 22 at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium. That will be the club’s third-ever European final, and its first since the 2001-02 UEFA Champions League.

Bayer Leverkusen will attempt to push its unbeaten streak to 50 matches when it visits VfL Bochum in German Bundesliga play on Sunday (1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+).