By Selcuk Bugra Gokalp
Bayer Leverkusen, the already-crowned champions of the German Bundesliga, may break their all-time unbeaten streak against AS Roma in the UEFA Europa League semifinal second leg on Thursday.
The German side extended their unbeaten run to 48 games on Sunday, beating Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the Bundesliga to equal the record set by Portuguese club Benfica between 1963 and 1965.
They won the Europa League semifinal first leg 2-0 on May 2 in Italy.
"2-0 is a good result; we go home happy but cautious. What we are doing in this season is outstanding. We have quality players with a very high level of focus. The most difficult thing is to be consistent. We don't want to stop – we want to go on like this until the end of the season," Leverkusen's Spanish manager Xabi Alonso in a statement posted on the official website of the Europa League.
Daniele De Rossi, Roma's head coach, emphasized that their work is difficult by saying, "We know that in the return leg, we have to achieve a feat: go and win 2-0 in the stadium of a team that's never lost. We will have to go and attack more, giving a performance similar to what we did in the first half [in the first leg]. Maybe once you unlock them, everything can change. We will definitely play until the last minute."
Bayer Leverkusen will fight for their second title since 1988, while 2022 UEFA European Conference League champions AS Roma will play for their maiden Europa League trophy.
- Semifinal fixtures:
Atalanta-Olympique Marseille (First leg ended 1-1)
Bayer Leverkusen-AS Roma (First leg ended 2-0)