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Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso says his team deserve all three titles available to them this season after they qualified for the Europa League final by overcoming AS Roma on Thursday.
Leverkusen, the Bundesliga champions who have also reached the May 25 German Cup final, played their 49th match without defeat in all competitions, surpassing Benfica’s long-standing European record set from 1963 to 1965.
In typical Leverkusen fashion this season, they achieved the milestone after a late comeback from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw at home to Roma, securing their spot in the May 22 final in Dublin by 4-2 on aggregate.
“We’ll play two finals in a week as a result,” Alonso said. “We showed great character today after their second goal. I looked my players in the eye afterwards and saw that they wanted more.
“We still have the chance to win three titles. And my boys deserve all three titles.”
No team has ever gone through a Bundesliga season unbeaten, but Leverkusen are two games away from doing just that.
Back then, not even the most optimistic Leverkusen fan could have predicted how brilliant the following 12 months would have been for Alonso’s side.
With just two major trophies in their history before the start of this season, Leverkusen are on course for the remarkable treble.
But despite their incredible season, Leverkusen’s hopes of being the first side to go through a Bundesliga season unbeaten faces a real challenge on Sunday in their penultimate match.
Bochum are strong at home, having inflicted the defeat on Bayern Munich in February that cost Thomas Tuchel his job.
In May 2023, Alonso’s revolution was already in full swing. The Spaniard took over with Leverkusen in relegation danger in October 2022 but stopped the bleeding and set his side on course for European qualification.
On the final match day, Leverkusen came to neighbouring Bochum needing a win or a draw to guarantee a Europa League spot, having lost only once in the league dating back to February.
For Bochum the situation was dire: only a win would lift them out of the relegation mire.
Leverkusen winger Amine Adli saw straight red after just eight minutes and Bochum were 2-0 up by half-time, adding a third in the dying stages to climb to the safety of 14th.
Against Roma on Thursday, Leverkusen had a slice of luck as the Italian side’s defender Gianluca Mancini deflected the ball into his own net in the 82nd minute.
