Alejandro Grimaldo struck an 88th-minute equaliser to rescue Bayer Leverkusen as they battled to a 2-2 draw with Newcastle United in Wednesday’s Champions League clash.
Leverkusen had gone ahead in the first half when Aleix Garcia’s corner found captain Robert Andrich at the back post, whose header deflected off Bruno Guimaraes and wrong-footed Aaron Ramsdale.
Despite controlling much of the opening period, the hosts handed Newcastle a lifeline shortly after the restart.
A moment of panic from goalkeeper Mark Flekken changed the tone of the second half. Nick Woltemade pressured him into a mistake, forcing the keeper to drag him down inside the area, and Anthony Gordon calmly dispatched the penalty.
Minutes later, Gordon nearly doubled his tally, rattling the inside of the post with Flekken beaten.
Newcastle completed the turnaround in the 74th minute when Gordon whipped in a precise cross for teenage midfielder Lewis Miley to head home.
The Premier League side then retreated, inviting Leverkusen forward.
That caution proved costly. With time running out, substitute Ibrahim Maza slipped a clever ball into the box and Grimaldo, Leverkusen’s standout performer this season, drilled home the leveller past Ramsdale’s despairing hand.
The result leaves Newcastle on 10 points and Leverkusen on nine, with two group matches to play. Historically, 11 points has usually been enough to reach the knockout phase, but Newcastle face the tougher run-in with fixtures against PSV Eindhoven and defending champions Paris Saint-Germain.
Leverkusen, meanwhile, take on struggling Olympiacos and Villarreal.
The match began under unusual circumstances for the Bundesliga side as head coach Kasper Hjulmand was ruled out due to personal reasons just 30 minutes before kick-off.
Yet his team showed grit to salvage a point—and once again, it was Grimaldo who provided the spark, continuing his exceptional campaign with his 10th goal involvement in Europe this season.
