Who will beat Bayer Leverkusen? This question has come up regularly since the start of the season, especially over the past few weeks, and we still don’t have the answer. German champion with 26 wins and 6 draws (84 points out of 96 possible), semi-finalist of the Europa League while being on a favorable waiver against AS Roma (2-0 victory in Italy) and finalist of the European Cup Germany against Kaiserslautern, which is playing to maintain its German D2, Bayer Leverkusen has never stopped cultivating its attraction to victory and its hatred of defeat. Previously nicknamed Neverkusen for its status as a loser in German football who had never won the Bundesliga, the Werkself is in the process of forging a new image.
And it continues to exceed the standards of football that we know. Xabi Alonso, who is supported by a well-established collective and magnified by certain individuals like Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka, Victor Boniface and Alejandro Grimaldo, achieves real feats. With 40 wins and 8 draws in 48 matches, Bayer Leverkusen is making history and is slowly getting closer to a perfect season. With another 5-1 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt where there was clearly no debate, the German champion has just achieved a performance which dates back to 1965. At the time, Benfica had had 48 matches in a row without losing the slightest encounter. A record in European football that Xabi Alonso and his flock have reached and can surpass this Thursday when they host AS Roma.
Five matches into an undefeated season
After this Europa League match, there will be two Bundesliga matches against Bochum and Augsburg, a probable Europa League final against Atalanta or Olympique Marseille and the German Cup final against Kaiserslautern where Leverkusen will be able to reach the 53 matches of invincibility and finish the exercise undefeated. The road is still long for the Bayer 04, but the finality is getting closer little by little. To see Bayer Leverkusen lose, you have to go back to July 29 and a friendly against Real Sociedad (1-0). In official competition, it was during the 34th day of the Bundesliga last season against Bochum (3-0). A hatred of defeat which is reflected in the match scenarios.
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This season, Bayer Leverkusen have snatched a draw or won a match thanks to goals after the 90th minute on 11 occasions (Bayern Munich, Qarabag 3X, Augsburg, Leipzig, Stuttgart 2X, Hoffenheim, West Ham and Dortmund). In recent weeks, the scenario has repeated itself more often with draws against Borussia Dortmund in the 90th +7 and against Stuttgart in the 90th +6. From the 86th minute, Bayer Leverkusen has scored 21 of the 134 goals it has scored this season. After a 1-1 win in added time against West Ham, Xabi Alonso reacted lightly to this incredible series from his team: “records aren’t something I like to think about too much. But once we get them, we try to value them and know that they are the consequence of a lot of good things that we do and that we don’t want to stop. We’re 44 games unbeaten at the moment, but if we can go a little longer that would be great. And in ten years if someone beats us we will congratulate them. But for now we are happy to continue to get good results and have a good mentality to come back in difficult times.”
Four new matches without defeat later, Bayer Leverkusen are getting closer to their goal, but have not yet achieved it. For Xabi Alonso, the season is excellent, but not perfect and we will have to conclude the test on these last twenty days of the year: “we are not talking about perfection. But yes, we are very satisfied. Our level, our consistency throughout the season is excellent. But we still have a way to go. In football, it is sometimes difficult to stop. You have to be ready for the next match. And the next match is a big match for us. Daniele De Rossi, the AS Roma coach, will try to be the first to slow down the German machine this season, but he knows it will be difficult. “They are undefeated despite being behind several times, or they have managed to win matches in injury time after being caught late in the match. So, in addition to playing well, they have reached a level of awareness, confidence and tenacity in relation to what they are trying to accomplish, which leads me to have enormous respect for them., he said before the first leg that his team had lost 2-0. It will be difficult to bring down Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen, but the German club knows they have a target on their back in every match from now on…
