Xabi Alonso's ridiculous unbeaten record has been kept alive thanks to Bayer Leverkusen's stunning victory in the Europa League.
The Bundesliga leaders went into the second leg of their round-of-16 tie against Azerbaijani side Qarabag level at 2-2 as they stood as the overwhelming favourite at home on Thursday (March 14). However, it went terribly wrong for the Spaniard as his team went 1-0 down due to Abdellah Zoubir's strike.
The away side were then reduced to 10 men three minutes after the opener with Elvin Jafarguliyev shown a straight red card. But even with one less player, they proved effective in front of goal as they grabbed a shock second through Juninho.
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TNT Sports Watch it hereLeverkusen were facing an embarrassing exit from the competition as well as losing their remarkable unbeaten streak this season but a goal back from Netherlands international Jeremie Frimpong provided a glimmer of hope.
Heading into stoppage time with nine minutes added on, the German side managed to find an equaliser through Patrick Schick as goalkeeper Andrey Lunev failed to keep his close-range strike out of the net.
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In extraordinary scenes at the BayArena, Schick proved to be the hero after he met the cross of Exequiel Palacios to head past Lunev in the 98th minute to secure Leverkusen's passage to the quarter-finals.
The Czech striker has failed to score in 2024 in the Bundesliga but has been a clinical force in Europe, netting in four consecutive games as his brace extended the club's unbeaten run to 37 games in all competitions.
Leverkusen will discover their quarter-final opponents as well as their potential run to the final in the Europa League draw on Friday from 12pm (UK time) where Alonso could come up against former side Liverpool, who also booked their place in the last eight after a 6-1 win over Sparta Prague, making it 11-2 in their favour over the two legs.
The 42-year-old has been reported to be Liverpool's number one target to replace Jurgen Klopp as manager with the German set to leave the club at the end of the season. Bayern Munich are also targeting him, however.
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