In 2023-24, Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen are on the cusp of greatness, theoretically recording an unbeaten season for a team in the top five of Europa League after just 11 games.
Out of the 42 games played so far this season, they have won 37, drawn 5, and lost 0.
Bayer could win the Bundesliga for the first time in their history this weekend when they face Werder Bremen, while they beat West Ham 2-0 in the Europa League quarter-final first leg and will face second-tier Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final. Compete against. May 25th.
If their record remains intact in the remaining games in all three competitions, they will become the first team to go a full season unbeaten in both domestic and European competitions.
Few expected this at the start of the season, with German giants Bayern Munich having won the league 11 times in the past and no team in the Bundesliga having ever finished a season without losing in their domestic league. This is the scenario that could have happened.
In the history of the sport around the world, there have been many teams who have gone unbeaten throughout a league season, such as Arsene Wenger's Arsenal's 'Invincibles' in 2003-04, but doing so across multiple competitions has been difficult. is a rare area.
AFP Sports features three teams who have completed a full season without losing in multiple competitions.
– Al Ahli –
Egyptian giants Al Ahly won the league and the CAF Champions League undefeated in the 2004-05 season, but they were held to a draw in the round of 16 in the Egyptian Cup, and were prevented from achieving the treble only by losing in a penalty shootout.
In the league that season, they finished with an astonishing 31-point lead over second-place Empi SC, but they only won two out of 26 games.
This dominant double title was made even more appealing by a 4-goal-to-1 victory over Cairo's rivals Zamalek in the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League.
– Preston North End –
You have to go back to the 19th century to find such examples in the English game. In fact, you have to go all the way back to 1888, when the English League was born.
Preston North End won the league and cup double in the 1888-89 season, going 22 league games unbeaten and winning the FA Cup final against Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 at London's Kennington Oval. I won.
– Johor Darul Ta'zim –
Malaysia's Johor Darul Tajim achieved an undefeated national quadruple in the 2023 Malaysian season.
Domestic league and cup competitions will be held from February to December 2023, with Johor Darul Ta'zim winning an astonishing 37 out of 38 matches, securing a place in the country's Super Cup, Piara Malaysia Cup, FA Cup and League won the title.
Sadly, their domestic dominance did not translate into the bigger challenge of the Asian Champions League, where they won three of their group matches but lost three.
NF/DJ/SMW
