Football: invincibility record, champagne football, title within reach… The inside story of Bayer Leverkusen’s historic season
Of “too much organizational work to give an interview” At “as independents, we do not communicate in the press”, groups of Bayer Leverkusen supporters, who could celebrate their first German championship title on Saturday April 16, turned away the curious at the start of the week in a manner that was as concise as it was polite. As if we should not tempt fate and awaken this curse which has always stuck this club from the west of the country in a position of eternal second (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2011).
The record unbeaten streak of 42 games (37 wins, 5 draws) that they stole from Bayern Munich, and the ability of Xabi Alonso’s men to snatch precious points at the end of the match, are not enough to reassure the spirits of lovers of a team whose legendary misfortune gave birth to a nickname: “Neverkusen” (“Visekusen” in German).
“Despite the 16-point lead, they are not calm. Leverkusen has a habit of screwing up in the home stretch, confirms Christophe Kuchly, journalist and co-author of several tactical works on football. It’s been a nice team to watch for 5, 10 years now, but we can compare them to Clermont in rugby, with this aura of kings of lost finals.”
If they have not yet added a line to their meager record (1993 German Cup, 1988 UEFA Cup), many observers judge the 2024 vintage to already be greater than that of 2002, the reference year for the club ( 2nd in the Bundesliga, finalist in the German Cup and C1).
Still in contention on all three tables, the only team still undefeated in Europe, Leverkusen has the opportunity to considerably dust off its image on Saturday, if Bayern and Stuttgart lose, or even more likely on Sunday. A victory against Werder Bremen or a result identical to that of Bayern and Stuttgart, and the club would be assured of being champions for the first time in its history.
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