Small consolation
Can Bayer even lose without breaking their record streak?
By Till Erdenberger
May 22, 2024, 3:14 p.m
Bayer Leverkusen can no longer lose. That’s how it seems after a complete Bundesliga season without defeat and a storming run in the cup and European Cup. The run could even continue if the German champions returned home from the Europa League final without a trophy.
Bundesliga, Cup, Europa League: Bayer Leverkusen has been unbeaten in 51 games. Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, West Ham, AS Roma, Teutonia 05 Ottensen – no one could beat the new German champions. If the series continues in the Europa League final against Atalanta Bergamo in the evening (9 p.m. / RTL, RTL+ and in the live ticker on ntv.de), Bayer Leverkusen will be European Cup winners. Or not?
The “perceived” answer to the question is of course clear: If Bayer Leverkusen doesn’t raise the trophy into the sky over Dublin at the end of the evening, the series is definitely over, everything else is nonsense. But in terms of statistics, the record Bundesliga team could play a draw against Bergamo – and still end up on the pitch of the Aviva Stadium disappointed and empty-handed at the end of a long European Cup evening!
If after 90 minutes and the following extra time no European Cup winner has been found, the game will be recorded as a draw in the football statistics. The subsequent penalty shootout, which will determine the new European Cup winner, is statistically irrelevant. The penalty shootout is only used to determine a winner; the goals scored are not included in the performance data – neither in the individual shooters nor in those of the clubs involved. The big associations are also very clear about this: FIFA awards points for the world rankings just as much for the result after 120 minutes (even if the winner receives a small “bonus”) as does UEFA for its five-year ranking.
“They also have it in their heads”
And the Bundesliga club would set another record even if they were to lose on penalties: No other club in the history of football has been the unofficial club world champion for longer! Starting with the first goal scored in an FA Cup match between Upton Park and Clapham Rovers on November 11, 1871, the world championship is at stake week after week – this idea came from a handful of nerds from England in 2004 – based on the model of boxing: the old king must be dethroned by the new one, no matter what competition. And nobody held the title longer than Bayer Leverkusen, who became club world champions with a win against RB Leipzig at the start of the season. This evening will see the 5322nd “fight” for the unofficial club world championship.
The statistical subtlety would of course be no consolation, even if they never left any doubt in Leverkusen that the historic run is important to them, and not just because of the points and the successes. “We haven’t lost 51 games. So you can call us favorites,” said striker Patrik Schick before the final: “We are currently in a good flow. But it is a final, that is something special.” Atalanta are very strong, “but they also have it in their heads that we are going into this game with 51 games undefeated.”
Overtime through extra time is to be avoided, as there is still a final in the DFB Cup on Saturday. But Bayer does not want to rely on injury time in Dublin this time either, even though Bayer has been reliable there (as in the league) recently: In the last four European Cup games, they scored four goals in injury time. “If it were to happen again in the final, that would of course be something very special,” said Schick. “But we don’t want to wait until injury time. We want to sort it out sooner.”