Europa League final vs Atalanta
©TM/IMAGO
Bayer Leverkusen continue to live up to their new nickname of “Never-lusen” following going through an an entire Bundesliga campaign unbeaten. The club romped to their first ever league title, ultimately finishing 17 points above second placed Stuttgart and 18 points ahead of the holders Bayern Munich. Even more remarkably, Xabi Alonso’s side have not only been invincible in the league, but are also unbeaten in both cup competitions they have participated in. They will face Atalanta in Dublin this Wednesday in the Europa League final, before playing Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final this weekend.
Club Comparison
Bundesliga
Serie A
€594.55m
Market Value
€349.60m
First Tier
League Level
First Tier
€81.80m
Expenditures 23/24
€78.10m
Xabi Alonso
Managers
Gian Piero Gasperini
Full Club Comparison
The Bundesliga club have now gone unbeaten in 51 games across all competitions – a run stretching all the way back to May 2023 where they lost 3-0 to Bochum on the final day of the 2022/23 season. Not only is that a remarkable achievement in its own right, but it’s also the best unbeaten run from a club in Europe’s top 10 leagues since 2000. Alonso’s side are on the verge of winning a historic treble before the end of the season. If Leverkusen are to win the Europa League, it would be the club’s first European glory since the UEFA Cup victory in 1988.
Clubs with the longest unbeaten streaks in all competitions from Europe’s top ten leagues since 2000
Bayer’s 51 match unbeaten run has now seen them put some distance between themselves and second-placed Juventus from the 2010s. Under Antonio Conte, Juventus became the first Italian side to go unbeaten through the league campaign in 2011-12. Juventus didn’t play in European competition that campaign and their only loss arrived in the Coppa Italia final to Napoli. Celtic rank third on the list after their 42 game unbeaten run between November 2016 and August 2017. Brendan Rodgers’ side were named the “invincibles” after completing the league season without defeat as they clinched the treble by lifting the League Cup and the Scottish Cup. Inter Milan feature twice in the top five longest unbeaten run list from May 2004 to February 2005 (40 games) and October 2006 to April 2007 (39 games).
Real Madrid complete the top five with their 40 game unbeaten run from April 2016 to January 2017. Arsenal famously went unbeaten to win the Premier League but they lost in the two domestic cup competitions and the Champions League during the 2003/04 campaign. All the clubs in the top ten won their league championship during, or as a result of their run, except PSV. They went 39 games undefeated between March 2009 and January 2010 but they finished third in the Eredivisie in 2010/11 behind champions Twente and Ajax.
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