From out of absolutely nowhere and from the ruins of the relegation zone, Bayer Leverkusen have put together one of the greatest seasons ever witnessed in German football.
In fact, Xabi Alonso’s men have already smashed a ridiculous amount of records, and here are some of the best.
After beating West Ham United in the Europa League in midweek, Leverkusen extended their insane unbeaten run to 42 games. Astonishingly, this is now nine more games than the previous record set by Hansi Flick's Bayern Munich when they won the treble in 2020/21, and in reality, it looks as if Leverkusen will keep this run going.
Who’s going to the next round? 🏆👀 pic.twitter.com/uFtfh87xFp— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) April 11, 2024
Who’s going to the next round? 🏆👀 pic.twitter.com/uFtfh87xFp
In fact, they could even break the 50-match unbeaten margin with six more games in the Bundesliga to play, a DFB-Pokal final coming up, and a potential four more in the Europa League too.
The record of 42 games without a loss is a new German record, and given how this is already nine more than Bayern’s previous tally with no loss seemingly in sight, this is a record that could stand for decades and decades.
Oddly enough, the last time Bayern failed to win the title was in the glory days of Borussia Dortmund where the Black and Yellow put together a sensational unbeaten run.
Across the years of 2011-2012, Dortmund won the Bundesliga title and also managed to go 31 games unbeaten in a row in the league. At the moment, Leverkusen are adrift of this by only three games with six more left to play. Avoiding a loss in these games would put them third in the list of all-time unbeaten records, behind Bayern in first with 54 (2012-2014) and Hamburg in second with 36 (1983-1983).
With 28 league games in a row seeing Alonso’s men avoid a loss, it now means they hold the record for the most consecutive Bundesliga unbeaten games in a row within one season. On top of this, no team has gone unbeaten throughout the entire Bundesliga season, and Leverkusen are within just six of becoming the first team to do so since the inception of the league in 1963.
Although this Leverkusen side are far from the goalscoring numbers of the great Bayern and Dortmund teams, no side in Bundesliga history has seen full-backs get involved more than they have.
One of the main blueprints to Alonso’s success has been their full-backs in the attack. A large chunk of their goals across this 42-game unbeaten run have come from Alex Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong, as they have contributed a combined 49 goals and assists this season - no German side has done this before.