Xhaka “more than happy” as Leverkusen reach the Europa League final

Granit Xhaka briefly spoke to UEFA this evening after Bayer Leverkusen came from behind to extend their unbeaten steak to 49 games in a 2-2 draw with AS Roma.

The midfielder cut a somewhat relieved figure at full-time as Josip Stanišic struck in the 97th minute for parity. However, the Swiss international stated tonight’s result was richly deserved for Leverkusen.

“I think [the result] is much more than deserved. If you see the game, we had so many chances [to score] even before the goal we conceded. We had clear chances and the second-half was exactly the same. 

“But this is football, it is the nice part of football. If you don’t score [and go] in front, you can quickly go behind,” Xhaka added.

Having praised Die Werkself’s never-say-die mindset in the first-leg in Rome, Xhaka doubled down on his adulation for his side overcoming the Italian club this evening.

“The mentality we showed one more time today against a very strong team. [Roma are] a big team, with a lot of experience as well. To come back like this and go through to the final; we are more than happy tonight,” he concluded.

Bayer Leverkusen will now face Atalanta Bergamo in the Europa League final on Wednesday 22nd of May in Dublin, Ireland. Kick-off is scheduled for 9.00pm CET (8.00pm local time).