Leverkusen reach Europa League final

Josip Stanisic preserved Bayer Leverkusen’s remarkable unbeaten run with a last-gasp equaliser against Roma as the Germans reached the Europa League final.

Not for the first time in recent weeks, Xabi Alonso’s Bundesliga champions looked set to taste their maiden defeat of the season only to somehow fight back.

They took a 2-0 lead into the second leg on home soil but Leandro Paredes scored twice from the penalty spot to draw the Italian side level on aggregate.

Leverkusen got themselves back in front in the tie in the 82nd minute via an own goal from Gianluca Mancini but it was not until the seventh minute of injury time that Stanisic found the bottom corner to make it 4-2 on aggregate.

By extending their run to 49 games unbeaten, Leverkusen broke Benfica’s record for the longest sequence without defeat by a top-flight European team in all competitions.

In the final in Dublin on 22 May they will take on Atalanta, who eased to a 3-0 victory over Marseille for a 4-1 aggregate win to reach their first European showpiece.

Source: The Guardian/PA Media