Bayer Leverkusen had a double reason to celebrate in stoppage time on Thursday.
Not only did it reach the
Both had seemed at risk during the semifinal second leg after two
Leverkusen advanced 4-2 on aggregate and will face another Italian team on
“It’s pure goosebumps!”
The fact that its unbeaten record was preserved about 30 seconds away from coming to an end was another improbable finale in an impressive season for Xabi Alonso's team, which has already won the Bundesliga title and also reached the German Cup final.
Leverkusen’s equalizer was its 17th goal of the season in the 90th minute or later across all competitions and the third time it has come back from 2-0 down in the second half of
Leverkusen had several chances to all but kill off the tie and went close in the 29th minute. A free kick was rolled across the outside of the area to Piero Hincapié, whose shot came off the left post, bounced off the back of
Instead it was
Svilar had pulled off an extraordinary double save moments earlier and the
Paredes kept his cool to drill the penalty into the bottom left corner and send the visiting fans into raptures.
Just as it appeared as if the match was heading for extra time, Leverkusen got the goal it needed to progress as Alex Grimaldo’s corner from the right rebounded off Mancini at the far post and dropped over the line.
Leverkusen had made a habit of preserving its unbeaten record with stoppage time goals recently but left it even later than usual before Stanišić — who came on in the 90th minute — cut inside and fired into the bottom far corner in the seventh minute of added on time.
“Definitely one of them,” Stanišić told RTL when asked if it was the biggest moment of his career. “I think that just shows what this team is, the fact that we came back and drew 2-2 in the end.
“I don’t think we would have cared in the end if we lost and still progressed because we really wanted to get to the final, but it’s even nicer this way.”
ATALANTA-
After kicking out
Amid a string of chances,
Lookman set up
The biggest success in
EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE
In the third-tier competition, Olympiakos set up the final in the Greek capital against last year’s runner-up Fiorentina by beating Aston Villa 2-0 in Piraeus.
After winning the first leg 4-2 in
Villa was seeking a first European final since winning the European Cup in 1982.
Fiorentina held Club Brugge to a 1-1 draw in
The final will be held in
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