1st: Bayer Leverkusen (26 played, 70 points, 48 AD)
2nd: Bayern Munich (26 played, 60 points, 47 GD)
Leverkusen have only lost four games in the league this season and are yet to lose. This is the first time in their history that they reach matchday 27 without losing. They went into matchday 24 unbeaten in the 2009/10 season, but were only 3rd and 4th Crusader champions and 11-time champions, Bayern. They also bear the deep scars of having messed up the name twice on the final day of the season.
Bayer’s last 3-2 win in Freiburg took them to 70 goals, the second-best tally ever recorded at this level in a Bundesliga season after the 74 goals Pep Guardiola’s side scored in Munich in 2013/14. This Bayern team remains the team to start the season unbeaten for the longest time in the Bundesliga, without wasting any of their first 28 games.
Watch: Xabi Alonso leads Leverkusen to glory
Read our reasons why Alonso’s Leverkusen look destined for the title
Since Bayern drew 2-2 at Freiburg on matchday 24, the gap between the sensible side has widened to 10 points. No team in Bundesliga history with such merit at the end of the season has squandered their money. This means that history indicates that Leverkusen will nevertheless win the Meisterschale for the first time and that Bayern’s 11-year reign is coming to an end.
Watch: Leverkusen unleashed with 3-0 win over Bayern
The Werkself have led the way after 22 of the 26 matchdays of the 2023/24 season. As things stand, with 8 games to go, the first date on which they will be able to be proclaimed champions will be on matchday 29, 13 and 14 April. Leverkusen are supposed to earn at least six points more than Bayern in the next three games and at least two more than third-placed VfB Stuttgart.
Bayern have most likely won back-to-back games and scored thirteen goals in recent times, and Thomas Tuchel’s side will continue to struggle in the coming weeks. At the earliest, the Meisterschale could move to the BayArena. in case Bayern are still flawless after matchday 31, with 3 games to go. That means Leverkusen win their next five games and reach a level where a 10-point gap at the end becomes insurmountable. Bayern’s hosts Eintracht Frankfurt and Leverkusen’s Stuttgart this weekend. .
Vote: Give your thoughts on the naming race below!
In the same streak of the last 8 games of the first part of the season, Leverkusen have managed 20 draws out of 24 imaginable (six wins, two draws). Bayern have managed seven wins and one draw in their last 8 games. Even 15 problems would be enough for Alonso’s men in their last 8 games, regardless of Bayern’s results.
What about Bayern’s chances? Of course, they’re on the hunt. Mathematically, each and every team up to the fifth position can still be champions. In reality, however, the Bavarians don’t have things in their hands and want Leverkusen to start losing some things. a minimum of four games, and Bayern themselves are still the best, would be enough.
Like last year, the name can remain valid until the last day. To do so, Bayern want to win at least seven points over the Werkself in the next seven games and/or Stuttgart to win 11 points. That is, the reigning champions. They want to get a better result than Alonso’s team in at least 3 of the next seven rounds, something they have only controlled twice in the first 26 rounds of the season.
The Munich club has proven time and time again that it easily gives up its name, even until the last start of the season. Don’t rule them out just yet.