Schick's injury-time double sends Leverkusen through

Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 Qarabağ (Leverkusen win 5-4 on agg.)
Goals: 0-1 Zoubir 58' (assist: Andrade), 0-2 Juninho 67' (assist: Vesovic), 1-2 Frimpong 72' (assist: Grimaldo), 2-2 Schick 90'+3 (assist: Grimaldo), 3-2 Schick 90'+8 (assist: Palacios)
Red card: Jafarguliyev 62' 

Wary of their slow start in the first leg a week ago, when they were two of goals down in the first half, Leverkusen began on the front foot in the return encounter as they looked to edge ahead in the tie following their impressive comeback in Baku. Borja Iglesias spurned a couple of opportunities early on at the BayArena, while Edmond Tapsoba saw a goal-bound header blocked. The one-way traffic continued as Amine Adli was denied by ex-Bayer custodian Andrey Lunev in the Qarabağ goal. Despite the home fans delighting in their team playing at a relentless pace, it did have an unintended consequence, with Jonas Hofmann limping out of the contest early to be replaced by Exequiel Palacios. At the other end, Juninho - who netted on the first-leg - kept things interesting for the visiting fans with a shot that was diverted away by Odilon Kossounou.

Sticking to their task after the restart, B04 conjured another chance when Iglesias found Palacios who struck just wide of the upright. Adli's subsequent effort suffering a similar fate meant that Leverkusen were always susceptible to a sucker punch from their opponents. And so it proved. When Qarabağ launched a quick-fire counter-attack, Abdellah Zoubir was there to head in Leandro Andrade's centre. Home hopes were raised thereafter when Elvin Jafarguliyev was sent off for the visitors, but astonishingly, Qurban Qurbanov's men netted a second, Juninho connecting with Marko Vešović's cross for 2-0. However, Jeremie Frimpong converted from substitute Álex Grimaldo to give Leverkusen a lifeline they took in dramatic fashion, with Schick scoring twice in added time to send the home supporters into raptures, and Xabi Alonso's treble contenders into the quarter-finals.  

• Schick is now Leverkusen's top scorer in Europe this season with five goals.
• Grimaldo has 24 goal involvements in all competitions in 2023/24 (11 of his own, plus 13 assists).
• Leverkusen are unbeaten in a German record 37 competitive fixtures this season. 
• The first-leg draw ended Leverkusen's run of six straight Europa League victories, which included a pair of wins over Qarabağ.
• Die Werkself have scored 104 goals in all competitions this term, the third-most in Europe's top-five leagues behind just Liverpool and Manchester City. 
• Qarabağ have lost eight of their 10 UEFA competition meetings with Bundesliga clubs.

Teams

Leverkusen: Kovář - Kossounou (Stanišić 79'), Tapsoba, Hincapié (Grimaldo 60') - Frimpong, Xhaka, Andrich (c), Adli - Hofmann (Palacios 28'), Wirtz - Borja Iglesias (Schick 59')
Unused subs: Hradecky, Lomb, Tah, Tella, Hložek, Puerta
Out: Arthur (groin), Boniface (thigh), Mbamba (ineligible)
Coach: Xabi Alonso 

Qarabağ: Lunyov - Vešović (Medina 86'), Mustafazada, B. Hüseynov (c), Jafarguliyev - Romão, Janković - L. Andrade (Silva 78'), Benzia (Bayramov 66'), Zoubir (Andrade 86') - Juninho (Akhundzade 78')
Unused subs: Gugeshashvili, Ramazanov, Medvedev, Ketta, Xhixha, Isaev, A. Hüseynov
Out: -
Coach: Gurban Gurbanov

As it happened!