Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said his team deserve to win all three trophies available to them this season after they qualified for the Europa League final by seeing off Roma on Thursday.
Leverkusen, who have already wrapped up the Bundesliga title and will contest the DFB-Pokal final on May 25, stretched their unbeaten run through all competitions this season to 49 matches, surpassing Benfica's long-standing European top-tier record set between 1963 and 1965.
Once again, they did it the hard way after two Leandro Paredes penalties wiped out their first-leg advantage, with a Gianluca Mancini own goal and a stoppage-time strike from Josip Stanisic completing a dramatic comeback.
Following their 4-2 aggregate victory, Roma will face Atalanta in the May 22 final in Dublin, after La Dea overcame Marseille 4-1 on aggregate in the other semi-final.
"We'll play two finals in a week as a result," Alonso said. "We showed great character today after their second goal.
"I looked my players in the eye afterwards and saw that they wanted more.
"We still have the chance to win three titles, and my boys deserve all three titles."
Despite going 3-2 up on aggregate when Mancini put through his own net, Leverkusen refused to sit back as they looked to preserve their unbeaten record, which they did through Stanisic's 97th-minute strike.
Asked whether that goal was one of the biggest moments of his career, the Bayern Munich loanee said: "Definitely one of them.
"We knew what was at stake, we really wanted to get to the final and I think you could see that over 90 minutes today.
"I don't think we would have cared in the end if we lost and still progressed because we really wanted to get to the final, but it's even nicer this way."
For Roma, the chance to reach a second straight Europa League final after last season's defeat by Sevilla on penalties slipped away in the dying minutes of the match.
"When you manage to get it back from 2-0 down and go close to the miracle, knowing nobody has ever beaten them this season, it hurts to see us concede a goal like that. It hurts," Roma boss Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
Scalvini out of Euro 2024, Gatti called up as replacement
Giorgio Scalvini has been ruled out of Euro 2024 for Italy after picking up an injury in Atalanta's final game of the season.
The Italian was forced off the field during the Europa League winners' 3-2 defeat to Fiorentina in Serie A on Sunday, reportedly rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee.
Atalanta confirmed in a statement on Monday the defender will undergo further tests, and Luciano Spalletti announced he would not be joining the squad as planned.
Federico Gatti will instead link up with the national team as defensive cover after Francesco Acerbi was also forced to withdraw last week.
The Juventus man has made three appearances for the Azzurri, most recently in November against North Macedonia.
Mbappe not included in Henry's preliminary Olympics squad
Kylian Mbappe has been left out of France's 25-man preliminary Olympics squad ahead of the Games in Paris starting next month.
Thierry Henry, who is the coach of Les Bleus' under-23 side, did not include the Paris Saint-Germain forward, who is expected to complete a move to Real Madrid in the coming days following Los Blancos' 15th Champions League success.
The 46-year-old has until July 3 to confirm his final 22-player list ahead of group-stage fixtures against the United States on July 24, Guinea on July 27 and New Zealand on July 30.
Henry has revealed he faced plenty of difficulties when selecting his squad, with several clubs refusing to release their players for the tournament.
Because the football event at the Olympics is not formally recognised by FIFA, clubs are not obliged to release their players for the competition, which begins on July 24 and ends on August 9.
"Real Madrid were really straightforward about the Olympics," Henry said when quizzed about Mbappe's omission from the squad.
"The last time I received so many rejections was at the university. There have not even been negotiations. You go, you ask, they say no, and you leave."
Henry was able to include several talented stars from across European football, including Crystal Palace duo Michael Olise and Jean-Philippe Mateta, while Bayern Munich's Mathys Tel and PSG's Warren Zaire-Emery were among the other high-profile inclusions.
However, Chelsea stars Malo Gusto and Benoit Badiashile were refused release from Stamford Bridge, but the Blues were able to offer midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu.
Asked if he was disappointed by the decisions made by Premier League clubs, Henry replied: "I will respond to this one very, very clearly – it's not the time for me to talk about that, firstly.
"Secondly, am I disappointed or surprised? No. Neither disappointed nor surprised, the clubs are within their rights, unfortunately, and I think what I have been saying hasn't changed since I started talking about the Olympics."
Les Bleus have previously won two medals at the Olympic Games, taking silver on home soil in Paris back in 1900 and gold at Los Angeles in 1984.
The rules of the competition state that each team must be made up of players born on or after January 1, 2001 (aged 23 at the time of the Games). However, three players born before that date can also be included.
Attention will follow me to Fenerbahce - Mourinho
Jose Mourinho believes his move to Fenerbahce will draw more attention to the Turkish Super Lig.
On Sunday, the 61-year-old was announced as Fenerbahce's new head coach on a two-year deal, his first job since being dismissed by Roma in January.
Turkey is the fifth different nation in which Mourinho has managed, having previously enjoyed stints at Porto, Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham, winning a combined total of eight domestic titles and two Champions Leagues.
Speaking at his first Fenerbahce press conference, Mourinho admitted he expected more people to pay attention to the club now he is in charge.
"One of the things is, I bring attention in with me. More people in Europe will follow the Turkish league," he said.
"I'm coming to work for Turkish football, for Turkish Super Lig. But fundamentally I come for Fenerbahce.
"When people look at me -- I did six finals, I won five of them -- people think immediately big, but I think we have to go step by step."
Fenerbahce finished runners-up in the Turkish Super Lig last season on 99, behind Galatasaray, extending their 10-year wait for a top-flight trophy.
Mourinho has won silverware at all but one of his clubs, only failing to get his hands on a trophy at Spurs.
The Portuguese icon has urged the Fenerbahce fans to push the side to end that wait for a league title.
"I make zero promises [to the Fenerbahce fans] but [promise] a huge commitment, passion, work, empathy in relation to them," he added.
"The way to express that is the way we are going to work. This shirt is going to be my skin, it's an expression that defines my mentality and that I want everyone at the club to have. The main dream is to win the Turkish Super Lig.
"For me, Fenerbahce means ambition.
"The fans don't need to be patient, they need to be mad, they have to be demanding. If the players cannot deal with that pressure, they don't belong at Fenerbahce.
"I want that passion. I want the players to trust me, to know that I am very honest, very direct, sometimes not the nicest guy, but always honest with them."
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