Neverlusen

Why Leverkusen might be the most dominant team ever 🇩🇪

Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz embrace after Xhaka scored in the third minute

Bayer Leverkusen beat Mainz 2-1 on Friday to maintain their lead at the top of the Bundesliga and set a new German record of 33 games without losing. Xabi Alonso’s side have won 29 and drawn four of the 33 games they’ve played across all competitions this season, breaking the record previously set by Bayern Munich in 2019-20.

Die Werkself’s record is even more impressive when you crunch the numbers:

  • Leverkusen’s last loss in a competitive match was on May 27th, when they lost to Bochum 3-0.

  • They have a goal differential of +67 (92 GF, 25 GA) during this run, meaning they’re outscoring opponents by an average of more than two goals per game.

To put this into context, the longest undefeated streak in all competitions across Europe’s top five leagues is 43 games, set by Juventus in 2011-12. Antonio Conte’s side only outscored opponents by 1.2 goals per game during this run (+51 GD), meaning Leverkusen are nearly twice as dominant as Gli invincibili. 😯 

While Friday’s win required some luck, Leverkusen are bearing down on Juventus’s record, and doing so in commanding fashion. But…

The Bundesliga is far from wrapped up

Bayern Munich kept Leverkusen at arm’s length with a 2-1 win over Leipzig on Saturday thanks to a stoppage-time winner from Harry Kane. The win snapped a three-game losing skid in all competitions for the embattled Bavarians, who are eight points behind Leverkusen.

Eric Dier and Kane eyeing up the monumental task ahead of them

With only 11 games remaining, Bayern have a lot of ground to cover in order to extend their Bundesliga dominance to a 12th-straight season. But, if anyone’s up for the challenge, it’s them.

Harry Kane is playing like the best striker in the world at the moment, and two of Bayern’s next three matches are against teams in the relegation zone – a perfect opportunity to close the gap should Leverkusen drop points. Granted, that’s a big if with the way they’re playing this season, but “Neverkusen” know better than to count their chickens before they hatch. 🐣 

😂 Can’t-miss celebration: Xhaka fooled Alonso into thinking he was injured with a classic FIFA celly.