By Ben Church, CNN
Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen extended its miraculous unbeaten streak on Sunday after beating Eintracht Frankfurt 5-1 in the Bundesliga.
Unlike many games this season, Leverkusen were never behind and scored five other goalscorers (Granit Xhaka, Patrik Schick, Exequiel Palacios, Jeremie Frimpong and Victor Okoh Boniface) in the shock win at Frankfurt’s Deutsche Bank Park.
Leverkusen’s victory equalled the record for the longest unbeaten streak in any top-flight match since the arrival of European competition, according to UEFA.
The club shares the mark with Portuguese side Benfica, who set the record between 1963 and 1965.
Leverkusen will have a chance to break the record on Thursday when they face Roma in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final.
The all-time record of 62 matches unbeaten was set through Scottish club Celtic from 1915 to 1917, but all of those matches were played in the domestic league.
“Our level, our consistency throughout the season is excellent. But we’re still making progress. We concentrate on painting and improving,” Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso told reporters after Sunday’s game.
Something has happened at Bayer Leverkusen this season.
Die Schwarzroten have already won the Bundesliga title, the first in the club’s 119-year history, ending Bayern Munich’s 11-year dominance, reached the German Cup final and have a 2-0 merit heading into their second Europa League semi-final. .
Doing all this by wasting a single game has been one of the defining stories of world football this season.
Credit goes to coach Alonso for instilling a never-tell-your-players attitude: the team is notorious for its propensity to achieve overdue goals when the odds seem opposed.
But the former Spanish foreigner is not satisfied with his team’s achievements so far and needs to continue until the end of the season.
Leverkusen still have two league games left against ninth-placed Augsburg and 14th-placed VfL Bochum, the German Cup final against second-tier FC Kaiserslautern, the semi-final second leg against Roma and a possible Europa League final to come.
“It’s going to be the best race. We’ll try,” Alonso said.
“We still have games to play to achieve our big goals in all competitions. The next match is for us, the second leg of the Europa League semi-finals: a chance to triumph in the final.
“In football it’s hard to stop. We have to prepare for the next game. And the next game is a big game for us. I hope we will have the chance to take part in a European final again.
The-CNN-Wire™ and © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc. , a Warner Bros. company. All rights reserved.
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