LAST-MINUTE LEVERKUSEN RIDE AGAIN
While it was no great surprise that Regionalliga Nord outfit FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen shipped eight goals without reply in getting knocked out in the first round of the German equivalent of the FA Cup by Bayer Leverkusen last August, nobody who was involved in the match had any idea of the significance of the hammering they had just watched unfold. Ostensibly a fourth-tier side who had only earned the right to play in the DFB-Pokal once before, Teutonia were almost certainly happy to take their licks in return for a big payday but could yet go down in football history as the extremely difficult answer to the pub quiz question: “Who was the first team Bayer Leverkusen played when they went an entire season unbeaten in all competitions at home and abroad in 2023-24?”
A whopping 48 games later, each of them against far more testing opposition than the comparative cannon fodder of Teutonia, Leverkusen have not suffered a single defeat in the Cup, Bundesliga or Big Vase. Now, having already wrapped up the league for the first time in their history, they now find themselves in a position where they could go an entire 53-game season without losing once – to anybody in any competition. With all due respect to the famous Arsenal title-winning squad of 2003-04, this is the kind of streak that makes Martin Keown, Lauren and chums resemble comparatively ham-fisted “Vincibles”.
With just four matches to play and almost everyone on the planet with a passing interest in football and anything resembling a soul willing them on, Leverkusen’s remaining games in a Bundesliga they won last month have now attained the status of metaphorical cup finals. Beyond those, the two games Xabi Alonso’s side have to play are actual cup finals. Specifically, a Big Vase final against Atalanta followed by a domestic cup final against Kaiserslautern. Having just broken the European record for the longest unbeaten run across all competitions since Uefa competitions began, four more games without defeat will ensure immortality for being unbeaten across the entire season.
Their effort could have been derailed as early as September, when it took an Exequiel Palacios spot-kick in the fourth minute of added time to avoid defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich. All in all, the German champions-elect have scored 17 goals this season in the 90th minute or beyond and, in the past 18 days alone, Leverkusen have relied on goals scored in minutes 89, 90+7, 90+6 and 90+7 to keep their dreams of going undefeated alive. “The team bond we have,” replied Jeremie Frimpong, upon being asked how they keep doing it. “No one gives up. Everyone knows that if we go down, we will get a goal. OK we scored to make it 2-1 [against Roma] and we were going through, but we still wanted more.” As does Football Daily, which has a question: if Leverkusen win their remaining Bundesliga games against Bochum and Augsburg but go on to lose one or both the cup finals they are in on penalties, will their season still go down as one of invincibility? Far be it from us to be pedantic, but the result of any final that ends up being settled by spot-kicks is still technically a draw.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I will try absolutely everything not to get involved in any kind of discussions” – Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp insists he’ll be on his best behaviour at Villa on Monday night, what with the threat of a touchline ban looming that would leave him in the stands for his Anfield farewell next Sunday.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTER
Can I be the first of 1,057 people to read Darren Ferguson’s comments about the refereeing in Peterborough’s playoff semi-final defeat (yesterday’s Quote of the Day) and express their shock that this particular apple hasn’t fallen far from the tree?” – Ed Taylor (and no others).
Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Ed Taylor.
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