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• Everyone wants to beat Leverkusen, says Alonso ahead of Frankfurt clash

  Bayer Leverkusen continue to edge towards a remarkable unbeaten season and Xabi Alonso acknowledged every club wants to put that run to an end.

  The newly-crowned Bundesliga champions moved a step closer to a treble after beating Roma 2-0 away in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday.

  Alonso's side have also reached the DFB-Pokal final against Kaiserslautern as their extraordinary 47-game unbeaten run continues across all competitions.

  Leverkusen, who ended Bayern Munich's 11-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga title to secure their first trophy since 1993, travel to sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

  "We want to stay unbeaten and we know every week it gets tougher. Everyone wants to beat us," Alonso told reporters.

  "It hasn't been easy in Frankfurt in recent years, they've always a tough opponent with a flexible system of play. We don't have much time to prepare."

  The 42-year-old Spaniard will be watching the Frankfurt game from the stands after receiving his fourth yellow card of the season during his side's 2-2 home draw with Stuttgart last week.

  "You can see the game better from the stands and I can communicate with the bench," he said.

  "I will miss the direct contact with the team during the game but the players are intelligent enough to decide situations individually on the pitch."

• Pochettino laments 'stupid rumours' over future as Chelsea speculation persists

  Mauricio Pochettino blasted "stupid rumours" as speculation continues over his future at Chelsea.

  Pochettino oversaw a 2-0 win over former employers Tottenham on Thursday, becoming the first manager to complete a Premier League double after previously managing them in the competition.

  Yet a longer-term view on the plans under Pochettino remain unclear, with reports linking Julian Nagelsmann, Hansi Flick and Roberto De Zerbi to Stamford Bridge should the Chelsea manager be moved on.

  That comes after another heavy-spending season under the Todd Boehly-led ownership at Chelsea, who splashed once more on the likes of Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Christopher Nkunku.

  Cole Palmer, Axel Disasi and Nicolas Jackson were among the other arrivals amid another chaotic transfer window in west London, with Pochettino battling injury issues and managing a large squad.

  Whether Chelsea pull the trigger for another manager may depend on how the Blues finish the season, with Pochettino's side eighth but just three points behind sixth-placed Manchester United.

  A place in Europe could be the decisive factor, though Pochettino vented his frustration at the situation in an honest assessment of the media reports questioning his job safety.

  "I wanted to say that it is enough with this type of rumours, that if I have one year more [under] contract here and no one says nothing [to me], [I] suppose I'm going to be here," Pochettino said.

  "Only if then, the season finishes and someone says to me 'ciao'... Because we don't know at the moment.

  "I suppose that I have one more year contract and that I am going to be here. Enough about the stupid rumours.

  "You need to ask the club if they want me to keep going or not, not to write things that have no sense."

  Pochettino has not been distracted by those rumours, though, with Chelsea winning eight of their last 10 home Premier League games (D1 L1), after managing just one win from the 14 before that (D7 L6).

  The Blues will hope to continue that imperious run of form when they host London rivals West Ham on Sunday at Stamford Bridge.

• Saudi Pro League: Mahrez and Firmino on target as Al-Ahli tighten grip on third place

  Riyad Mahrez and Roberto Firmino were both on target as Al-Ahli tightened their grip on third place in the Saudi Pro League table with a 4-1 win over Damac on Thursday.

  Matthias Jaissle's team were four goals up within just 25 minutes as Damac folded, Ziyad Al Johani and Feras Al Brikan netting their first two before Franck Kessie was felled by Dhari Al Anazi for a penalty, converted by Mahrez.

  Firmino then tapped home a fourth after being teed up by former Newcastle United winger Allan Saint-Maximin on the break, but Al-Ahli took their foot off the gas from there, Domagoj Antolic's second-half consolation rounding off the scoring.

  Elsewhere, 10-man Al-Riyadh scored two stoppage-time draws to earn a dramatic 2-2 draw with Al-Fateh in Al-Mubarraz. 

  Goals from Djaniny and former Columbus Crew star Lucas Zelarayan put Slaven Bilic's hosts on the brink of victory, with Al-Riyadh playing almost half the game a player down after Khalid Al Shuwayyi's 54th-minute red card. 

  An astonishing collapse denied them, however, with Mohammed Al Shwirekh halving the arrears one minute into stoppage time before Didier Ndong headed in a left-wing cross three minutes later.

  Thursday's other game saw Al-Hazm and Al-Akhdoud play out a goalless draw, keeping the hosts bottom of the table while Al-Akhdoud inched two points clear of the relegation zone.