Bayer Leverkusen's two steps from soccer immortality start in Europa League final against Atalanta

Bayer Leverkusen is two games from European soccer immortality.

The new champion of Germany has two cup finals in four days — starting Wednesday in the Europa League against Atalanta — to complete a previously unthinkable unbeaten season in domestic and continental competition.

On Saturday, Leverkusen will be heavily favored to win the German cup final against a Kaiserslautern team that finished 13th in the second division, not so far from falling into relegation playoffs.

And so the biggest remaining challenge for coach Xabi Alonso’s team is game No. 52 of 53, in Dublin against an Atalanta that is finishing the season strong.

It feels fitting because the Europa League has been a regular drama for Leverkusen.

Three times in six games in the knockout rounds the team was 2-0 down deep into the second half and still behind entering stoppage time: In both round of 16 games against Qarabag and in the semifinals return leg against Roma.

In another streak-saving Europa game, at West Ham in the quarterfinals, Leverkusen was set to advance on aggregate score yet needed an 89th-minute goal by wing-back Jeremie Frimpong to draw 1-1 and stay unbeaten.

“We don’t want to wait until the last seconds of the game,” said Patrick Schick, whose three stoppage-time goals against Qarabag in March were key to advancing 5-4 on aggregate. “We would like to make it clear, really, earlier.”

There have been other stellar teams in European soccer who added the elite Champions League to their domestic league title, unlike Leverkusen playing in the second-tier Europa League.

Still, Manchester United in 1999, Inter Milan in 2010, Barcelona in 2011 and Manchester City last year were wealthy clubs whose success could have been expected. Each started their season with established, star-packed teams led by coaches — Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola — who'd already won multiple domestic and European trophies.

This is Alonso’s first full season coaching at the top level. His team was in relegation trouble last season. There was no superstar transfer signing in the offseason.

“For me it’s very special,” the 42-year-old Alonso said last week. “My first title as a coach was the Bundesliga. It was super, it was very special. But a title in Europe would be wonderful and hopefully we will be able to say that.”

Alonso twice won the Champions League as an elegant midfielder, with Liverpool and then Real Madrid, who will play Borussia Dortmund for this season’s Champions League title. That June 1 final at Wembley Stadium is between two teams involved in the failed Super League breakaway in 2021 — Madrid driving it forward, Dortmund declining its invitation.

Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta were nowhere close to being invited to the breakaway three years ago and today represent soccer projects that won respect from neutral fans across Europe.

Both are based in provincial cities, each with more than 100 years of history, reaching surprise peaks. Before this season, they had only ever won three trophies: Atalanta’s Italian cup in 1963 and Leverkusen’s 1988 UEFA Cup – the forerunner of the Europa League – and Germany cup in 1993.

While Leverkusen once lost a Champions League final, to Madrid in 2002, and Atalanta was minutes away from a semifinals place in 2020, neither has felt entitled to European success.

Their modest stadiums in Leverkusen and Bergamo add up to a combined capacity of about 51,000 that could fit into the Dublin venue, formerly Lansdowne Road, that will host them Wednesday. For a showpiece European final, the official limit is 48,000.

Leverkusen and Atalanta do not figure in UEFA research of the top-50 earnings list of European clubs for total matchday income from ticket and hospitality sales.

Two well-run clubs, relying on smart transfer dealings — albeit underwritten, respectively, by pharmaceutical giant Bayer and Boston Celtics co-owner Steve Pagliuca — had combined total revenues last year that added up to about the same $500 million as Manchester City’s player wage bill alone.

Yet both Leverkusen and Atalanta, under coach Gian Piero Gasperini since 2016, play easy-on-the-eye soccer in attack and team-first defense.

“They play one against one on the whole pitch,” Schick said of Atalanta. “Wherever you move, you have one defender behind you so they don’t leave you the space to breathe.”

Atalanta has been a refreshing force under Gasperini and already has a place in the Champions League next season. In any normal year they would be popular first-time European title winners.

What Leverkusen has done is not normal, though, and a legend could be just days from being created.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Leverkusen team poses prior to the start of the Europa League second leg semi-final soccer match between Leverkusen and Roma at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Atalanta players celebrate at the end of the Europa League semifinal second leg soccer match between Atalanta and Marseille at the Bergamo's stadium, in Bergamo, Italy, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini attends a Media Open Day at the Giulio Onesti Olympic Center in Rome, Italy, Thursday, May 16, 2024. Atalanta will play Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League soccer final scheduled for May 22, 2024 in Dublin. (Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP)

Leverkusen's Josip Stanisic, center, scores a goal during the Europa League second leg semi-final soccer match between Leverkusen and Roma at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Bernd Thissen/dpa via AP)

Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso celebrates with the trophy as his team won the German Bundesliga, after the German Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Augsburg at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Saturday, May 18, 2024. Bayer Leverkusen have won the Bundesliga title for the first time. It is the first team in Bundesliga history, that won the championship unbeaten for the whole season. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

NEW YORK (AP) — Kodai Senga's injury-delayed season debut for the New York Mets was cut short after 5 1/3 innings and 73 pitches when he strained his left calf while pitching against the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.

After inducing Austin Riley to pop up leading off the sixth, Senga pointed toward Pete Alonso and began sprinting off the mound to clear room for the first baseman. The 31-year-old right-hander grabbed his left calf and bounced for a couple steps before falling.

Senga held his calf as he was surrounded by catcher Francisco Alvarez, manager Carlos Mendoza, his interpreter and an athletic trainer. Senga and the trainer rubbed Senga’s calf before Senga got up, exchanged hugs and handshakes with teammates on the infield and limped off.

Senga, who missed the first 102 games with a right shoulder capsule strain, allowed just two hits — including Adam Duvall’s two-run homer in the second inning — while striking out nine. He retired his final 10 batters.

Runner-up to Arizona's Corbin Carroll for NL Rookie of the Year last season, Senga was 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 29 starts after signing a $75 million, five-year contract.

Senga began a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment on July 3 and went 0-0 with a 4.15 ERA in four starts, three for Triple-A Syracuse and one for Class A Brooklyn.

Right-handed reliever Eric Orze was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse and emerging reliever Dedniel Núñez was put on the 15-day injured list with a right pronator strain. Right-handers Adrian Houser and Shintaro Fujinami were designated for assignment.

Núñez, 2-0 with a 2.43 ERA and one save in 24 games, had an MRI that didn't reveal any elbow ligament damage, manager Carlos Mendoza said. The 28-year-old right-hander began feeling tightness following back-to-back appearances at Miami last Saturday and experienced discomfort again Wednesday,

Houser, acquired from Milwaukee with outfielder Tyrone Taylor on Dec. 20, was 1-5 with a 7.84 ERA and one save in seven starts and 16 relief appearances. He opened 0-3 with an 8.16 ERA in his first six starts before working himself into a late-inning bullpen role by going 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 12 appearances from May 10 through June 30.

Hauser was scored upon in all five of his outings this month with a 9.00 ERA.

“Even when we put him in the bullpen, he was always willing to take the baseball and do whatever the team needed,” Mendoza said. “He was such a professional. It was just hard for him to find that consistency.”

Fujinami signed to a $3.35 million, one-year deal and opened the season with Syracuse. He was recalled and placed on the 15-day injured list on May 13 with a strained right shoulder, then walked eight in 8 2/3 innings over nine rehab appearances since June 25.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Mets' Kodai Senga, right, high-fives Luis Severino while walking into the dugout during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, July 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Kodai Senga gestures while walking into the dugout during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, July 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Kodai Senga (34) reacts as he leaves the field due to an injury during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, July 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

New York Mets' Kodai Senga grabs his leg as he reacts to an injury during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, July 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)