Bayer Leverkusen’s 51-Game Unbeaten Streak.
And this run ended in a way the Germans neither expected nor desired.
The first defeat, after 51 matches, was against Atalanta in the Europa League final.
However, this text is here to highlight this unique feat in the history of European football.
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Bayer Leverkusen’s 51-Game Unbeaten Streak
The sequence begins at the start of the season in grand style.
Xabi Alonso and his charges were already coming off a good run in the previous season. By October 2022, the Spanish coach had an immediate impact on the club.
Even in his first year in charge, he achieved a great record in the Bundesliga.
However, as expected, it wasn’t a linear job. They had a very strong start, but in the final rounds of the national championship, they wavered, going the last five matches without a win, suffering a resounding 3-0 defeat to Bochum in the final match.
The fans were apprehensive about the 2023/24 season. Could the sixth place in the Bundesliga have been just a “flash in the pan”?
The answer came in the very first game. In the Pokal, Bayer did nothing less than an 8-0 victory over Teutonia 05.
This feat happened on 12 August 2023. From then until the night of the final, the team simply did not know the taste of defeat.
A simply spectacular sequence, surpassing the historic Benfica of Eusébio in the 60s.
There are also football historians who consider the victorious runs of Celtic, between 1915 and 1917, as well as Union Saint-Gilloise, from 1933 to 1935.
Image: Public Domain
According to collected data, the teams had 62 and 60 unbeaten games, respectively. However, there are data discrepancies, not to mention the lack of professionalisation of the sport at the time.
For these reasons, the most accepted numbers are those of Benfica, who led the statistics until the Europa League final.
Image: Public Domain
The Journey to 51 Matches
The answer as to whether the team could overcome the wavering and dream of greater things came in the very first round. In the Pokal, a remarkable 8-0 scoreline over Teutonia Ottensen.
This was just the beginning of the historic run.
Fifty-one matches passed and not a single defeat was recorded.
Along with the record, the much-dreamed-of Bundesliga title was won, undefeated. Imagine supporting a team that came close many times to winning the national championship and, when it happens, it’s undefeated.
Moreover, the qualification for the Europa League final, in which the opponent was really superior and nothing could be done.
As if that wasn’t enough, last Saturday, Bayer Leverkusen won their second trophy of the season. In the 1-0 victory over Kaiserslautern, the DFB-Pokal was won, further adorning the club’s trophy room (once modest, now starting to fill up).
Clearly, both titles were won unbeaten. In the case of the DFB-Pokal, it was won with a 100% success rate. Bayer Leverkusen didn’t even draw any of their eight matches.
Watching Bayer Leverkusen’s games, one thing was certain: only the final whistle could decide the final result of the match.
There were countless matches where Xabi Alonso’s team seemed unable to escape defeat. However, something magical happened.
To give you an idea, in the Bundesliga, of the 89 goals scored by the champions, 22 of them occurred in the last 15 minutes of the match. In other words, one in every four goals was scored in the so-called “crucial time.”
If we narrow down our research further, we see eight goals scored in stoppage time. The vast majority, to avoid defeats or to secure victories for Bayer Leverkusen.
Undoubtedly, a journey that will be marked for eternity, not only in the history of the German club but also in the entire sport.
And now, with the 2023/24 season ended, what can we expect from 2024/25?
Image: Arise News
Written by Vitor F L Miller.
