Xhaka: “No luck”: Leverkusen thrives on last-minute goals

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When the regular ninety minutes of the second leg of the Europa League Round of 16 between Leverkusen and Karabakh are over, the Werkself are on the verge of being eliminated from Europe, suffering their first defeat of the season. The blatant outsider leads 2:1.

But then Patrik Schick’s big minutes follow. The Leverkusen striker leveled the match in the 93rd minute before scoring the winning goal in the 97th minute to turn the BayArena into a madhouse.

In extremis, Xabi Alonso’s team pulls its head out of the noose and keeps the slate clean. Again. Because Leverkusen lives on his late goals this season. But where would the Werkself be without a goal in the last fifteen minutes?

Only two points ahead

In the Bundesliga, Leverkusen would not be so comfortably in the lead without their late goals. The 2-2 equalizer against Bayern on matchday four came in the 94th minute, and Boniface only scored 1-1 against Dortmund in the 79th minute.

The two narrow away wins against Augsburg and Leipzig were secured with goals in injury time. Without these four goals, Granit Xhaka and Co. have six points less and pursuer Bayern two points more. The lead would therefore only be two points – instead of ten – as it is now.

Two extra times in the cup

Even in the DFB Cup, where Leverkusen is the only Bundesliga team in the semi-finals, late goals are a life insurance policy. In the second round, without three late goals (85th, 88th and 90th + 2), they would have had to go into extra time against third division Sandhausen.

The same image in the quarter-final against Stuttgart. It remained 2-2 until the 90th minute, when Jonathan Tah scored and won. Semi-final instead of extra time.

Karabakh lost three times in the Europa League. Already in the group stage, the 1-0 winning goal against the team from Azerbaijan came in the 94th minute. And in the round of 16, Schick also scored the equalizer in the 92nd minute of the first leg, before following it up with a brace a week later.

Even Alonso is surprised

For Granit Xhaka, the many late goals are no coincidence: “There are people who talk about luck. But if you’ve done it eight or nine times, it’s not luck.”

Against Karabakh, Leverkusen even surprised its own coach: “After the equalizer I was ready to speak for extra time,” admits Xabi Alonso. But then it still worked. As so often.

Source : Blick