Bayer Leverkusen, the Bundesliga champions, continued their extraordinary unbeaten streak by thrashing hosts VfL Bochum 5-0 on Sunday.
This victory extended their unbeaten run across all competitions to an impressive 50 consecutive matches this season.
Just days before, Xabi Alonso’s team, eyeing a treble of titles, surpassed Benfica’s long-standing European unbeaten record from 1963 to 1965 with a 2-2 draw against AS Roma, securing their spot in the Europa League final.
Facing Bochum on Saturday, Leverkusen showed no signs of easing off. Bochum, the last team to defeat Leverkusen almost a year ago, proved to be no match for the champions.
Leverkusen asserted their dominance by scoring twice late in the first half against the Bundesliga’s previous season’s top performers, who had previously defeated them.
Patrik Schick put Leverkusen ahead in the 41st minute, while Victor Boniface extended their lead with a penalty in first-half added time. Bochum’s task was made even more difficult when they were reduced to 10 men following Felix Passlack’s straight red card in the 15th minute.
“I think already the Bundesliga—you can’t imagine how much that means for the club or the fans,” Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich said. “We’ll lift the trophy next week in our stadium.
It’s going to be very emotional. And then we go to Dublin and then we go to Berlin. We want to get two titles there and then go on vacation with the triple in our backpack.”
Amine Adli extended Bayer Leverkusen’s lead to 3-0 in the 76th minute, followed by Josip Stanisic’s low drive in the 86th minute. Stanisic then provided an assist for Alejandro Grimaldo to score with a tap-in during stoppage time.
With Leverkusen facing Atalanta in the Europa League final and Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final, they currently sit on 87 points with one Bundesliga game remaining this season.
Bayern Munich, who secured a 2-0 victory against VfL Wolfsburg earlier on Sunday, trails in second place by 15 points.
Alonso’s team has the opportunity to make Bundesliga history by becoming the first team to finish a season unbeaten if they avoid defeat against Augsburg at home on Saturday.
Leverkusen’s win over Bochum on Sunday also marked their achievement as only the third team in Bundesliga history to remain unbeaten in every away match of a season.
“After that red card, it was a completely different game for us,” Alonso told a press conference. “I am very satisfied with the result. It was important for us. Now we have a super goal on Saturday to win the title without any defeat. That has never happened before.”