Bundesliga: Brilliant Leverkusen stretch unbeaten run to 50
MUNICH, Germany: Bayer Leverkusen stretched their season-long unbeaten run to 50 games with a 5-0 win at 10-man Bochum on Sunday.
Bochum defeated a 10-man Leverkusen in May 2023, the last side to beat Xabi Alonso’s side in any competition, but the tables turned on Sunday with Leverkusen’s goals coming from five different scorers.
Alonso’s league champions are just one game away from the first unbeaten Bundesliga season and three games from a remarkable treble. Leverkusen midfielder Robert Andrich told DAZN he had his sights set on a ‘unique’ triple.
“We couldn’t have imagined how much the Bundesliga title meant to the club and the fans.
“Next week we’ll hold the trophy high in our own stadium, which will be emotional and beautiful. After that we’re off to Dublin and Berlin and we want to grab both titles and go on holiday with the triple in our backpacks.”
Within three days in late May, Leverkusen face Atalanta in the Europa League final in Dublin before taking on second-division Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final.
Bochum lost a man early when Felix Passlack saw red for a lastman foul on Nathan Tella.
With attacking midfield maestro Florian Wirtz missing through injury, Alonso started strikers Victor Boniface and Patrik Schick and both had a goal by half-time.
Schick blasted in an Arthur cross with a superb first-touch finish after 41 minutes. Boniface converted a penalty five minutes later after Tella was fouled in the box. Amine Adli, brought on for Schick with 20 minutes remaining, headed in a corner to make it 3-0.
Josip Stanisic, who scored in stoppage time to keep Leverkusen’s unbeaten run alive against Roma in the Europa League on Thursday, added a fourth with three minutes remaining before setting up Alex Grimaldo’s goal in the final moments. —