Bayer Leverkusen celebrated its first German championship title on Sunday at Borussia Dortmund with a 45th consecutive match this season without defeat, a draw (1-1) snatched by a new goal in added time.
Assured for seven days of winning their first German championship title in 120 years of existence, Bayer Leverkusen was led 1-0 on a superb volley from Niclas Füllkrug in the 81st minute, but equalized in the seventh minute of added time by Josip Stanisic.
Xabi Alonso’s men are definitely the kings of stoppage time this season, since they scored their fourteenth goal (in all competitions) beyond normal time on Sunday at the Westfalenstadion (and the 28th after the 80th minute).
In all competitions, Leverkusen is therefore 45 consecutive matches without defeat, a current record series for the European top 5.
“In your head, it’s never easy when you are already champion. But we have our own challenges, one of these challenges is to remain undefeated throughout the season,” explained Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka to microphone of the DAZN broadcaster.
This would allow the club on the outskirts of Cologne to join Perugia (30 matches in 1978/79, 2nd at the end of the season), AC Milan (34 in 1991/92), Juventus Turin (38 in 2011/12) and Arsenal (38 in 2003/04), the only club in the five major European championships (Germany, England, Spain, France and Italy) since 1945 to have finished a season unbeaten in the league.
Xabi AQlonso, the Spanish coach of Bayer Leverkusen, before the kick-off of the Bundesliga match between his team and Borussia Dortmund on April 21, 2024 in Dortmund / Sascha Schuermann / AFP
Record de points possible
Among these challenges is also the possibility of finishing the 2023/24 season with three trophies. After securing the first, the Bundesliga, Leverkusen will play the final of the German Cup on May 25 against Kaiserslautern (2nd division) and is still in the running in the Europa League, with a semi-final against AS Roma at the beginning of May, and a possible final in Dublin on May 22.
With 80 points on the clock before the last four days of the season, Lukas Hradecky’s teammates can still beat the single-season points record for the German championship, set by Jupp Heynckes’ Bayern Munich during the 2012/13 with 91 points.
To do this, they will have to win next week at home against Stuttgart, the third beaten on Sunday in Bremen (2-1), then in Frankfurt and Bochum, finally at home against Augsburg.
For Borussia Dortmund, the draw against the new champion makes it possible to limit the gap on RB Leipzig to two points (57 against 59) in the fight for fourth place, in theory the last qualifier for the next Champions League.
But with the qualifications of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund for the semi-finals of the C1 and that of Leverkusen for the semi-finals in the Europa League, Germany is in an ideal position to win one of the two additional tickets granted to the two best nations in the 2023/24 season in the European Cups, with the first going to Italy.
Granit
The fight between Dortmund, opponent of Paris SG in the semi-final of the Champions League, and Leipzig has thus lost intensity, with a duel scheduled for next week.
