It was the opening game of the Bundesliga campaign and Bayer Leverkusen had started their season with a win – against the German Super Cup winners, no less.
Opponents RB Leipzig were on a high having spoiled Harry Kane's Bayern Munich debut by beating the perennial German champions 3-0 in the season curtain-raiser, with the Bavarians' manager Thomas Tuchel left apologising to his new €100 million signing from Tottenham Hotspur for the team's performance.
In an entertaining match in August at the BayArena, Xabi Alonso's side came out on top with a 3-2 victory which maintained the upwards trajectory that the club had been on since the Spanish coach's arrival in October 2022.
Leverkusen were second from bottom then, having had their worst start to a season since 1979, but Alonso's impact was immediate as he not only guided the club away from the relegation zone but up to sixth in the table, earning spot in the following season's Europa League.
“Obviously I am very satisfied with the result as well as the performance,” said Alonso, who has turned down job opportunities at former clubs Bayern and Liverpool to remain at Leverkusen next season, after the Leipzig win. “Our statement is only from game to game. We have ambitions but we should not be stupid.”
Little did Alonso know at the time but those results and performances would keep on coming. Fast forward nine months and 50 undefeated games later, Leverkusen have not only secured their first Bundesliga title but are just two matches away from winning an “invincible treble”.
They now face two finals in four days, shuttling between Dublin and Berlin, starting on Wednesday when they take on Italian side Atalanta in the Europa League before a quick turnaround for the German Cup clash against Kaiserslautern – a team that finished 13th in the second division.
Last Saturday, Leverkusen became the first Bundesliga team to complete a season unbeaten after a 2-1 win over Augsburg that meant they finished 17 points ahead of Stuttgart, with deposed champions Bayern relegated to third having won the previous 11 German titles.
“To reach 90 points is extremely strong. The record is 91, we just missed that, but to remain undefeated is extraordinary,” Alonso said after unbeaten game No 51. “The fans can celebrate today. We will enjoy it and then recover tomorrow.
“It is an important day for the club and it is totally deserved to become champions undefeated, unbelievable, so we will need some time to let that sink in.
“Our team has written itself into Bundesliga history. In 20 years we will look back and all be able to say: 'wow, we were there'.”
Leverkusen's journey to their first European showpiece since losing to a Zinedine Zidane-inspired Real Madrid in the 2001/02 Champions League, has not always been plain sailing, though.
After winning all six of their group-stage matches, the knockout stages proved a far trickier task. Three times in six games Leverkusen were 2-0 down deep into the second half and still behind entering stoppage time; in both last-16 games against Qarabag (when they eventually came out on top 5-4 on aggregate) and in the semi-final return leg at Roma (that ended 4-2 on aggregate).
In between, after winning the quarter-final first leg against West Ham United 2-0, they were 1-0 down at the London Stadium return and in danger of losing their unbeaten record only for wing-back Jeremie Frimpong to grab an 89th-minute leveller.
This refusal to accept defeat is a source of pride for midfielder Granit Xhaka, who joined the club from English Premier League side Arsenal last summer, giving the side a much-needed experienced head on the pitch. “Bayer signed me to stabilise this young team,” Xhaka said in his first interview after signing. “I’ll try to do that on every level.”
The 31 year old appears to have done that, proving the heartbeat of Alonso's team having yet to taste defeat for his new club. “The whole season is difficult because when you go 50 games unbeaten, the focus is generally on just the good things,” the Swiss told TNT Sports.
“But in my opinion, it was not as easy as it looked because you had half times where we had not been playing so well and were down in the game.
“We also had games where we were down until late on. So, there were good things as well, but there were some things which didn't go as we had planned.
“The reason why we win these games is because this team and the staff are so special in terms of how we work with each other, the respect, and how open we speak with each other. That's why we are in both of these finals … We are all so happy to be a part of this team.”
