Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella were unused substitutes, as Bayer Leverkusen reached the Europa League final after a dramatic 2-2 draw against AS Roma on Thursday night.
Leverkusen have now gone 49 games unbeaten in all competitions this season, surpassing the feat set by Benfica.
It is the longest unbeaten run since the introduction of UEFA club competitions.
Once again Leverkusen had to do it the hard way, as they came from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 and qualify for the final 4-2 on aggregate.
Leandro Paredes opened the scoring for Roma from the penalty spot with two minutes left to play in the first half.
Also Read: Lookman Nominated For Europa League Player Of The Week
In the 66th minute Roma doubled their lead as once again Paredes converter from the penalty spot.
Bayer Leverkusen defending a corner kick against AS Roma. Credit: Pierre O. Kouédy/GB2 images
With eight minutes left Leverkusen pulled a goal back as Gianluca Mancini slotted a corner kick into his own net
The comeback was completed thanks to Josip Stanisic who got on the score sheet in the 97th minute.
Victor Boniface and his teammates appreciating the Bayer Leverkusen fans after qualifying for the Europa League final. Credit: Pierre O. Kouédy/GB2 images
Leverkusen have now reached the final of a major European club competition for the third time.
They previously reached the final of the UEFA Cup in 1988 and the UEFA Champions League in 2002.
Xabi Alonso’s men will take on Atalanta in the final which will hold in Dublin, Ireland.
Credit: Pierre O. Kouédy/GB2 images
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COMMENTS
I’m still baffled by Finidi’s puzzling decision to give Ademola Lookman mere cameo appearances in the recent matches against Ghana and Mali. It’s mind-boggling considering Lookman’s stellar performance at the last AFCON, where dude netted three crucial goals for Nigeria. Yet, there he was in Morocco against Mali, warming the bench while The Aigles turned us inside out.
Lookman has it in abundance, while Troost Ekong’s nomination for AFCON’s best player feels like a punchline. Sure, Ekong’s a solid defender, but to me, from the Nigerian perspective, Lookmam made a louder noise.
His outstanding display against Roma in the Europa Cup tonight is another great testament. The guy was practically toying with their defense, weaving through challenges like a maestro. And I hope Finidi prefers him as a starter in the next round of games because the guy a game-changer. The coach should begin to place value on a player’s hunger to perform. That should literally be in Finidi’s playbook.
Non of the 2 have come out to speak on this matter. So what if he didn’t play, when uzoho was under performing which was glaring to the eye, tell us which of the friendly matches he was benched during paserio’s reign. Also during Rorh, many players were invited and didn’t get the chance to play including lookam. So lets stop making an issue out of nothing. So far both men have not commented about it, lets wait and see the outcome.
Bro, i guess you didn’t see the report where it was mentioned that Lookman and Umar confronted Finidi for benching them in those friendly matches. And they didn’t seem to even get an explanation from gaffer for that behavior. Honestly, why call players for friendly matches only to sideline them? Six players in total among those invited never got a chance to play. There are so many risks involved in leaving your club to play for your country, and being benched without any explanation just adds insult to injury.
Friendly matches are supposed to be a testing ground, a chance to perfect certain playing systems and evaluate players’ suitability. But instead, Finidi, even as an interim coach that he was then, seemed to think bench-warming was the way to go. Seriously, how are you supposed to gauge a player’s potential if they’re stuck on the sidelines?
This is my argument. If this is his idea of player management, he’s in for a rude awakening. The last thing we need is a team full of disgruntled players ready to revolt. He better shape up, or he’ll be facing a serious mutiny before he knows it.
@Papafem you day mind @Kenneth lol. you go explain tire.
Does kenneth even watch ball?.. or follow up on reports?. As far as Kenneth is concerned Nigeria can do no wrong. Good Mindset to have but within reason but this same mindset becomes dangerous when a country and the people running it need drastic and Radical change of mindset
Papafem that’s my big fear about finidi. That action still makes me get scared about his chances of doing well.
The questions are
What made him do that
Is he another oliseh on our hands who does not know how to manage players
How come he has not said anything
Has he contacted the players privately
Why will a sensible gaffer fail to play someone like lookman and Tella in such a match? Why?
I only hope those boys can just look away and play for Nigeria to qualify and boost their own profile.
I also hope finidi must learned from that.
Why is Alonzo suddenly benching Boniface. I am just curious. They almost lost again today.
@Christian Ministries nawa o bros no be small, bur I am looking at it more objectively, One of 4 reasons, 1 being he just had a knee Operation after a 4 month long injury and isbeing used sparingly or two with the season coming to an end he wants to detract Potential suitors for BOniface and is making sure he has Boniface fit and ready for a champions league and Bundesliga Title defence attempt or he is angry at boniface for pouring that Huge jug of beer on him after he had been poured beer by about 6 0r 7 team mates before him, when they were celebrating the title.
It has to be one of these but believe me my latter reasoning might actually be it if you look at that Viral Video Alonso was not impressed as he had probably told the players enough of the beer pouring and in came Boni Boni joker of the team. Check out Alonso Reaction if you have the opportunity to watch theviral video, and you can feel he was not happy about it lol
Hahaha Ugo. I agree with you anyway that something is definitely wrong. We hope he can just give him the chance in both finals. We want two sure candidates for APOTY this year
Its simple….he was out for months due to AFCON camp and injury. Someone else stepped into his role and delivered in his absence. Leverkusen never struggled for goals, nor struggled to get wins or draws when needed. The never got weaker because of Victor’s absence neither did is seem at any point like they were seriously missing him and ready to rush him back to fitness.
As the saying goes, you don’t change a winning team. Its a simple dynamics of club football where 1 tree doesn’t make a forest. And that has been the strength of Alonso’s team.
You’re right Dr Drey. I pray he go just give the guy the chance to shine in both finals.
Am beginning to wonder as well
Even when they needed goals, The gaffer prefer to bring in Patrick Schick previous Bundesliga
Games he has not been starting hope all is OK between him and Alonso..
Hope all is well between him and Alonso, even when they needed goals he was left out sitting one can see the frustration in Boni
face..previous Bundesliga Games too he’s fully fit but still sit on the bench..
Congratulations to both Lookman,Boniface and Tella.
I think both Lookman abd Boniface do deserve a place for the AFOTY with Ademola being the favourite. He had a great AFCON and consistent top level performance in the league and UEFA Europa league.
With regards to Alonso and Boniface; I think we shouldn’t blow things out of proportion. I feel it is simply tactical.Xavi Alonso trust his full squad and any of them could be counted on. We shouldn’t forget, Bonifcae is just coming back from injury. Besides, Florian Wirtz, arguably Leverkusen’s best player this season, has recently been benched as well. He played just some 9mins yesternight. So I don’t think it has anything to do with a ‘supposed’ squabble between Alonso and Boniface. It’s just a coach that has built a reliable complete team where the bench is as good as the first eleven. No surprise they have been this successful.
@Dr Drey got that point right you don’t change a winning team.