Late Drama Continues: Bayer Leverkusen’s Unbeaten Streak Lives on After Last-Minute Goal

The 45th game had really shaken Bayer Leverkusen – and yet the series of 46 competitive games without defeat lasted. Captain and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, himself an important part of the 2-2 draw against Stuttgart, was a bit speechless.

Strahlemann: Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky. Bayer 04 Leverkusen via Getty Images

Against VfB Stuttgart, the new champions were able to experience the feeling of a very late goal twice this season. Defense chief Jonathan Tah had already scored 3-2 in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup at the beginning of February – in the 90th minute of the game. At the end of April, during the 31st Bundesliga matchday, it happened again, even later: Robert Andrich was lucky to make it 2-2 in the sixth minute of stoppage time on Saturday after being 2-0 down.

This maintained the famous series of 46 competitive games this season – long a record in Europe’s top leagues. And at the same time we made sure that the Rhinelanders were really the last minute kings. Because this Andrich goal was once again a goal after the 90th minute (for example several times in the Europa League round of 16 against Qarabag Agdam, in the 2-1 against Hoffenheim or in the DFB Cup against VfB) and besides that 127th competitive goal this season, like that X-The Werkself account noted: “A new club record! The previous record of 126 competitive goals was achieved by Bayer 04 in 2001/02.”

“Lots of special moments”

Leverkusen’s captain Lukas Hradecky, who had kept his colors in the game with a fantastic performance against Serhou Guirassy in a possible 1:3 (87th minute), was visibly speechless. “Crazy, I have no words for it,” said the 34-year-old veteran Sky-Microphone.

Coach Xabi Alonso was also very impressed by his team’s renewed energetic performance: “We have a lot of special moments in the last few minutes. Again in the 96th minute. Last week (in the late 1-1 draw in Dortmund it was 90.+7; Anm. d. Red.) the moment was a bit emotional, but today I couldn’t believe that we’d done it again.” From his point of view, that was extraordinary – and he doesn’t know if he’s ever experienced something like that with this frequency before in his life long career as a world-class professional for Spain, Real Sociedad, Liverpool, Real Madrid or Bayern “I haven’t seen that often in football, it’s hard to explain.”

The successful Spanish coach also attributed the final momentum towards 2-2 to his own supporters in the BayArena: “Our fans believed that we could do it again.” This gave an additional push, which from Xabi Alonso’s point of view will continue in the coming weeks with the last Bundesliga games, the Europa League semi-final against Roma and the DFB Cup final against second division team 1. FC Kaiserslautern (25. May, 8 p.m.): “Our big goal was to become champions – but we don’t want to stop. We still have three games in the league ahead of us and a game in Rome next week, which we want to prepare well for. ”

Are Hradecky’s thighs weakening?

Will Hradecky then have to sprint again to join his cheering teammates after scoring a goal? He himself would have preferred a win, lead or equalizer achieved during regular playing time, as he remarked smugly: “My back thighs are slowly giving way when I have to sprint so much – but I’m happy to do it. It “It’s unbelievable. Our fans deserve it too, they push us, but we can really like to lead again in a game or score earlier.”

The leading player also honestly added that these extremely late goals can certainly be explained in part by the team’s always fantastic willpower and also in other ways – namely luck: “A few of them for sure. We are dangerous at set pieces, anything can happen . But I would say: 50:50 between quality and happiness.”

2024-04-27 21:00:12
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