German team Bayer Leverkusen extended its miraculous unbeaten run to 48 games on Sunday after thrashing Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the Bundesliga.
Unlike many matches this season, Leverkusen never trailed and had five different scorers – Granit Xhaka, Patrik Schick, Exequiel Palacios, Jeremie Frimpong and Victor Okoh Boniface – in the blowout victory at Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park.
The win means that Leverkusen has now equaled the record for the longest unbeaten run across all top-level matches since the introduction of European competition, according to UEFA.
The club shares the mark with Portuguese giant Benfica, which set the record between 1963-65.
Leverkusen will have the chance to break the record on Thursday when it plays Roma in the second leg of its Europa League semifinal.
The all-time mark of 62 games unbeaten was set by Scottish club Celtic from 1915-1917, however, those matches were all in the domestic league.
“Our level, our consistency throughout the season is great. But we are always moving forward. We are always concentrating on the work and improving,” Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso told reporters after Sunday’s match.
Something special has happened at Bayer Leverkusen this season.
Die Schwarzroten have already wrapped up the Bundesliga title – the first in the club’s 119-year history, ending Bayern Munich’s 11-year dominance in the process – reached the German Cup final and hold a 2-0 advantage going into their Europa League semifinal second leg.
Doing all that without losing a single game has been one of the standout stories in world soccer this season.
Credit goes to manager Alonso for instilling a never-say-die attitude into his players – the squad has become renowned for its propensity to pull late goals out when the odds seem stacked against it.
But the former Spain international is not content with his team’s achievements to date and wants to continue the incredible run until the end of the season.
Leverkusen still has two league games against ninth-ranked Augsburg and 14th-ranked VfL Bochum, the German Cup final against second division FC Kaiserslautern, the semifinal second leg against Roma and a potential Europa League final to come.
“It will be the perfect run. We will certainly try,” Alonso said.
“We still have games to play to achieve our big goals in all competitions. The next game is important for us, the second leg of the Europa League semifinal: a chance to reach the final.
“In football, it’s sometimes difficult to stop. You have to prepare for the next game. And the next game is a big game for us. Hopefully, we have the chance to be in a European final again.”