Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-2 draw with Roma in the Europa League on Thursday night means the German side remain unbeaten in 49 matches and break the record for the longest unbeaten streak against a European club since the introduction of club competitions of UEFA in 1955.
Leverkusen led their match against Roma by two goals after the opening clash but looked set to lose their first game of the season after two penalties from Leandro Paredes gave the Italian club the lead.
However, an 82nd-minute own goal from Gianluca Mancini and a 97th-minute equalizer from Josip Stanisic saw Leverkusen advance to the Europa League final after a 4-2 aggregate win.
Stanisic’s goal, meanwhile, was the 17th scored by Leverkusen in stoppage time this season.
Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka told TNT Sports: “It’s football. That’s the beautiful part of football. For the mentality that we showed again today against a great team to come back like that and go to the final. We are more than happy today.
“You see the desire of the team, we didn’t want to slow down. We wanted to score the next goal to remain undefeated, 49 times now. We are proud of it.
The unbeaten run in all competitions, which began with an 8–0 victory over FC Teutonia Ottensen in the German Cup on 12 August, surpassed Portuguese club Benfica’s mark of 48 consecutive games without defeat from December 1963 to February 1965.
This Benfica team was managed by Eusebio and won the Portuguese championship and cup during their unbeaten run.
Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen side have avoided defeat in 32 Bundesliga matches, five German Cup matches and 12 Europa League matches. They won 40 of these matches.
Unsurprisingly, this left them on the brink of a treble. They have already won the Bundesliga, ending Bayern Munich’s 11-season dominance, and will face second division Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final on May 25. and Atalanta in the Europa League final on May 22.
If Leverkusen also avoid defeat in their last two league matches, they will become the first team in Bundesliga history to go an entire season undefeated.
Here are the five longest unbeaten runs by a European club since 1955:
Longest streaks of invincibility
club | Country | Undefeated Games | Years |
---|---|---|---|
Bayer Leverkusen |
Germany |
49 |
2023-2024 |
Benfica |
Portugal |
48 |
1963-1965 |
Dinamo Zagreb |
Croatia |
45 |
2014-2015 |
River |
Croatia |
45 |
2016-2017 |
Rangers |
Scotland |
44 |
1992-1993 |
(Christof Koepsel/Getty Images)