After winning its first Bundesliga title – German football championship – in its history, will Bayer Leverkusen win its first continental trophy, Wednesday May 22, in Dublin? Opposed to the Italian club Atalanta Bergamo, in the final of the Europa League, the German team will try to continue its incredible series of invincibility by further marking its history and that of European football.
On May 9, against Roma (Italy) in the semi-finals second leg of the Europa League, Bayer Leverkusen became the first club to reach 49 consecutive matches without defeat, in all competitions (championship, National Cup, European Cup) . And this since the 1955-1956 season and the establishment of the European cups. With its series, the German team surpasses the feat of Benfica (Portugal), invincible during 48 matches between 1963 and 1965, and the performance of Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), which did not experience defeat during 45 matches between 2014 and 2015.
Their last defeat dates back to May 27, 2023, against Bochum (0-3) in the last Bundesliga match of last season. Since then, Bayer Leverkusen has left only crumbs to its opponents: 6 draws in the league, 3 draws in the Europa League this season. A reliability that even the biggest names in the German championship like Bayern Munich (thirty-three times winner of the German championship) or Borussia Dortmund (eight times) have never managed to achieve during a season. With 28 wins and 6 draws, Bayer Leverkusen is the first German team to win the championship without losing once.
Only five teams from the six major European championships (England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France and Portugal) have managed to win a national title without conceding the slightest defeat since the Second World War:
- Bayer Leverkusen (Germany), during the 2023-2024 season;
- Juventus (Italy), during the 2011-2012 season;
- FC Porto (Portugal), during the 2010-2011 season;
- Arsenal (England), during the 2003-2004 season;
- Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands), during the 1994-1995 season;
- AC Milan (Italy), during the 1991-1992 season.
After this Europa League final against Atalanta Bergamo, Bayer Leverkusen will play one last match this season. It will be the German Cup final on Saturday May 25 against German second division team Kaiserslautern. Enough to complete the 2023-2024 financial year, surely unforgettable for this club called “Neverkusen” due to its poor record. In one hundred and twenty years of history, Bayer Leverkusen had only won one UEFA Cup in 1988 and one German Cup in 1993.