FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Bayer Leverkusen’s Lukáš Hrádecký set a record for a foreign goalkeeper in the Bundesliga on Sunday with his 292nd appearance.
The 34-year-old Finnish goalkeeper was involved in Leverkusen’s 5-1 win over his former club Eintracht Frankfurt, breaking the record previously held by Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayern Munich Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
“I like to read the newspapers or the match papers before the match and I saw him there today,” Hrádecký later told DAZN. “It fills me with pride and honor to be able to play in such a beautiful country and league, and for two clubs. “
Hrádecký joined Frankfurt in 2015 and made 101 appearances for the club before moving to Leverkusen in 2018. Sunday’s match was his 191st league appearance for Leverkusen.
It was also the first time he won with Leverkusen in Frankfurt since his substitution.
“After five years, despite everything, the curse has been broken,” Hrádecký said. “It feels smart to win here with the home team and this time we did it with the away team. “
Hrádecký won the Bundesliga with Leverkusen this season with five games remaining. The team is on a record run of 48 matches unbeaten in all competitions since the start of the season.
“The race continues, there are five more games to go. It’s a pleasure to play for Bayer at the moment,” Hrádecký said.
Leverkusen will then face Roma in the Europa League semi-final match. Leverkusen won the first leg 2-0 in Rome last week.
They will then travel to Bochum for their penultimate Bundesliga match. Bochum was the last team to beat Leverkusen on the final day of last season. The German champions will finish their league crusade at home against Augsburg.
Leverkusen will also face Kaiserslautern in the second division in the German Cup final on May 25.
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