BAYER LEVERKUSEN ARE through to the Europa League final after a stoppage-time goal from Josip Stanisic snatched a 2-2 draw at home on Thursday, extending their unbeaten run to a record 49 games.
Leverkusen emerged 4-2 winners on aggregate after penalties in each half from Leandro Paredes put Roma ahead 2-0 but an own goal from Gianluca Mancini put Bayer back in the lead before Stanisic struck seven minutes into added time to maintain his side’s unbeaten run.
With the tie heading for extra time, Alex Grimaldo curled in a corner which goalie Mile Svilar failed to catch, the ball going into the net after bouncing off Roma defender Gianluca Mancini.
Stanisic then kept Leverkusen’s stunning record of late goals alive by scoring on the counter in the seventh minute of added time, breaking Benfica’s European unbeaten record dating back to 1965.
Bundesliga champions Leverkusen will meet Atalanta, who beat Marseille 3-0 (4-1 on aggregate), in the final in Dublin on 22 May with hopes of a remarkable treble still alive.
🤯 𝐁𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐍 🤯
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They've done it again!#UEL 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/jwzrMDxW8H
Atalanta, meanwhile, claimed the biggest win in the Italian club’s history.
Goals from Ademola Lookman, academy product Matteo Ruggieri and El Bilal Toure put Atalanta through to their first-ever European final with a 4-1 aggregate win in front of delirious fans in Bergamo.
Atalanta’s passage to the Dublin decider was fully deserved after a dominant performance in which Marseille barely had a kick in yet another poor away display from the Ligue 1 outfit.
Marseille have won just four games on the road in all competitions this season and once Ruggieri put Atalanta two ahead in the 52nd minute, Jean-Louis Gasset’s team had no way back, Toure adding the icing on the cake in stoppage time.
Atalanta, a traditionally provincial team who have under Gian Piero Gasperini habitually punched above their weight, could now end the season with two trophies as they face Juventus in the Italian Cup on Wednesday.
That is a remarkable achievement for a club whose only major trophy is the 1963 Italian Cup, while the furthest Atalanta had previously gone in European competition was the last four in the 1988 Cup Winners’ Cup when they were a second division team.
Atalanta can also qualify for next season’s revamped Champions League through Serie A as they currently sit in Italy’s fifth and final position for Europe’s top club competition.
