Bayer Leverkusen were crowned Bundesliga champions thanks to a phenomenal campaign that ended Bayern Munich’s dominance in Germany’s top flight.
What is even more remarkable is that Xabi Alonso’s vibrant and exciting team has done it all without losing a single match. Not one.
This unbeaten streak extends beyond the Bundesliga, as Leverkusen have also charted an unblemished path to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League and the final of the DFB-Pokal.
As they enter the final stretch and begin to prepare for some unforgettable celebrations, we take a look at some of the great “invincible” teams that Leverkusen aim to place themselves with.
43 – Leverkusen are unbeaten in 43 consecutive games in all competitions (38 wins and five draws), equaling the record of a team in the five major European leagues (also Juventus from May 2011 to May 2012). Nimbus. pic.twitter.com/QaS3jcLIfX
-OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) April 14, 2024
Has any team ever gone an entire season undefeated?
There are many teams that have managed to go through entire league seasons without losing a single game, and some of them even had “perfect” campaigns winning every game.
Others have gone entire domestic seasons, including leagues and cups, without losing. If Bayer Leverkusen can also complete a European campaign without losing a single match, it would represent one of the greatest achievements in the history of modern football, rivaling that of some of the other “invincible” teams in history. You can find a list of many of these teams. here.
We have focused on six of the most famous examples from Europe’s top five leagues (England, Germany, Spain, Italy and France), in both men’s and women’s football.
Arsenal 2003/04
The modern benchmark and undoubtedly the most famous undefeated season of the contemporary era. This was due, in part, to the growing global prominence of the Premier League, but Arsene Wenger built an Arsenal team that captured the imagination and allowed for the first time a full understanding of how continental influences could lift English football to greater heights.
Wenger’s third Premier League title, where Arsenal won 26 and drew 12 of their 38 games, is his greatest achievement. It also turned out to be his last league championship. Since then, Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have taken their points total to greater heights, but none have managed to match the feat of Arsenal’s so-called ‘Invincibles’.
Preston North End 1888/89
Leverkusen would be the first team in the Bundesliga era to go an undefeated season in Germany. Arsenal may make the same claim when it comes to the Premier League, but the original ‘Invincibles’ of English football etched their name into football folklore in the late 19th century.
Preston won 18 and drew four in what was then a 22-game season in Division One and also lifted the FA Cup to become the first winners of the English domestic double.
Juventus 2011/12
Bayern’s 11 consecutive titles set a new record in Europe’s major leagues, usurping the nine in a row achieved by Juventus between 2011/12 and 2019/20.
The first of those campaigns, Juve’s first title since the Calciopoli scandal, saw Antonio Conte lead an unbeaten Serie A campaign of 23 wins and 15 draws. In fact, the only man capable of ending Juve’s dominance turned out to be Conte himself as he led Inter Milan to glory in 2020/21.
Celtic 2016/17
Scottish football heavyweights Celtic and Rangers boast two unbeaten seasons each, with the most recent coming for the Gers under Steven Gerrard in 2020/21. However, Celtic’s efforts in 2016/17 were quite special, as Brendan Rodgers engineered an unbeaten league season with just four draws. The Bhoys also won the Scottish League Cup and FA Cup to finish off the kind of spoils that Leverkusen could soon call theirs.
Perugia 1978/79
You might think that an undefeated season more or less guarantees the league title, but not always. Perugia’s incredible 1978/79 season in Serie A has become legendary. The Umbrian team became the first team since Italy’s top flight became a round-robin tournament to play the entire 30-match season without losing. The problem was that they drew 19 of those games and missed out on the title by three points (this was the two-points-per-win era), finishing second behind an AC Milan team that lost three times on their way to glory.
Barcelona 2021/22
Undefeated seasons are one thing, but perfect seasons elevate the game completely. That was exactly what Jonatan Giraldez’s Barcelona Femeni achieved in 2020/21, winning every domestic match. That meant 30 wins out of 30 in League F, in addition to lifting the Queen’s Cup and the Spanish Super Cup.
In what could serve as a warning for Leverkusen if they advance in the Europa League, Barça faltered in the European final. Their unbeaten run ended in the 46th game of the season when they lost 2-0 to Wolfsburg in the second leg of the Women’s Champions League semi-final, although they still won the tie 5-3 on aggregate. In the final, they were defeated 3-1 by Lyon.
