Leverkusen the 1st Bundesliga team to go season unbeaten
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From "Neverkusen" to never losing.
Bayer Leverkusen continued to rewrite the record books Saturday, becoming the first team ever to record an unbeaten Bundesliga season. Leverkusen, who sealed the German title for the first time in club history weeks ago, cemented their invincible status with a 2-1 win over Augsburg on the last day of the 2023-24 campaign.
Xabi Alonso's team, still in contention for a remarkable undefeated treble, has now gone 51 matches without a loss in all competitions this season. For European clubs competing in both domestic and UEFA competitions, it's the longest unbeaten run since the European Cup was introduced in 1955.
Leverkusen will meet Atalanta in the Europa League final on May 22. Three days later, they'll conclude their spectacular season with the DFB-Pokal final against second-tier Kaiserslautern.
Prior to Saturday's domestic finale, Alonso cautioned his side against looking too far ahead, calling the clash with Augsburg the first of three showpiece matches for his team over the coming week.
The players took that message to heart from the Spaniard, whose first full season as a senior manager has been nothing short of legendary.
Victor Boniface got the party started at BayArena in the 12th minute when he tapped home from Augsburg 'keeper Tomas Koubek's turnover. Robert Andrich's gorgeous backheel from close range gave Leverkusen a 2-0 lead midway through the first half.
Mert Komur halved the deficit with a superb curling finish in the 62nd minute.
Leverkusen end the campaign with 90 points, one shy of the Bundesliga record set by Jupp Heynckes' treble-winning Bayern Munich squad in 2012-13.
"I'm proud to be part of this team. After all these years, I'm really happy to finally be able to achieve something here," said defender Jonathan Tah, who joined Leverkusen in 2015. "It feels extremely good. Xabi Alonso is an outstanding coach both tactically and personally. That's why we are so successful."
Alonso played down his role, though, heaping praise on his players.
"Good players make good coaches. I have an outstanding squad here," said the Spaniard. "We had a good atmosphere every day. I'm very grateful to be able to work with such players."
Die Werkself, who've made a habit of scoring dramatic late goals to keep their sensational streak alive, won 28 of their 34 league contests this season. They haven't tasted defeat in a competitive match since losing to Bochum in May of last year and are now two games away from footballing immortality.
Should Leverkusen achieve the historic feat by capturing the other two pieces of silverware still on offer, attention will shift toward one of the sport's most outstanding - and seemingly insurmountable - records.
The longest unbeaten league run ever compiled in one of Europe's top five leagues belongs to AC Milan, who, under Fabio Capello, went 58 consecutive Serie A matches without defeat from May 1991 to March 1993. Leverkusen would have to be flawless deep into the next Bundesliga season to eclipse that mark.
With Alonso already confirming that he'll remain with the team in 2024-25, and the club determined to keep hold of standout players like Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong, anything is possible.