Bayer Leverkusen's late escapes are keeping Xabi Alonso's team unbeaten this season
BERLIN (AP) — Just call him Xabi Houdini. Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso has seen his team pull off several scarcely believable escapes from defeat this season as it remains unbeaten across all competitions.
Leverkusen, which has already secured the Bundesliga title, is on a 46-game run without a loss – a record across Europe’s “big five” leagues.
It has been achieved in extraordinary fashion.
Robert Andrich scored with the last kick of the game for a 2-2 draw with high-flying Stuttgart on Saturday. The goal came in the sixth minute of stoppage time when there was only supposed to be five.
Stuttgart had won seven of its nine games since losing to Leverkusen in the German Cup and led 2-0 against Leverkusen, but even that wasn’t enough of a cushion to prevent Alonso’s team from coming back and extending its unbeaten record.
The previous weekend, Josip Stanišić scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time for a 1-1 draw at Borussia Dortmund. And in Leverkusen’s previous game, Amine Adli scored in the 90th minute for a 1-1 draw at West Ham in the Europa League.
Related articles
Rory McIlroy loves life inside the ropes, shoots 66 on first day at PGA
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Rory McIlroy blasted yet another drive down the middle, this one finally comi2024-05-17Blaze at abandoned building in Wellington
Police and fire crews responded to a fire in an abandoned three-storey building on Tasman Street, We2024-05-17'Shaky' times for scientific research with decade
Hundreds of research projects around managing land use and water quality were carried out over the p2024-05-17Closing prices for crude oil, gold and other commodities
Benchmark U.S. crude oil for June delivery rose 61 cents to $78.63 per barrel Wednesday. Brent crude2024-05-17Person found dead after house fire in Whitianga
A close-up of the Fire and Emergency NZ logo. Photo: Marika Khabazi / RNZ2024-05-17
atest comment