Patrik Schick scored twice in second-half stoppage time to lead Bayer Leverkusen to a 3-2 win over Qarabag in the Europa League on Thursday.
The victory is important for the Bundesliga leaders on two fronts: extending their unbeaten run this season to 37 games and booking a place in the Europa League quarter-finals with a 5-4 aggregate win.
– ESPN Broadcast: LaLiga, Bundesliga, (USA)
After losing 2-0 to Azerbaijan for the second week in a row after last Thursday’s first leg, Leverkusen scored three goals (adding Schick’s late goals) to win the game and draw level on aggregate.
Schick was also the hero in the first leg, scoring a late goal to give his side a 2-2 draw in the first leg as Xabi Alonso’s side remained unbeaten in the 2023-24 campaign.
Leverkusen beat Freiburg 2-0 at the weekend to extend the streak to 36, then extended the tally to 37 with an unlikely comeback against Qarabag on Thursday.
The Europa League draw will take place on Friday, with Leverkusen joining Liverpool, West Ham United, AC Milan, AS Roma, Benfica, Atalanta and Marseille in the round of 16.
Alonso’s Bundesliga favourites, who have never won the domestic championship, are 10 points behind Bayern Munich in the standings and have reached the semi-finals of the DFB Pokal.
With 32 wins this season, Leverkusen are three away from equalling their club’s single-season win record and already the German record for longest unbeaten run, eclipsing Bayern’s 32-game run in February.
They also have the third-longest unbeaten streak in the history of Europe’s five most sensible leagues, behind only 38-year-old Inter Milan (2004-05) and record holder Juventus, who went 42 games unbeaten in the 2011-12 season.