Editor's note: On May 9, Bayer Leverkusen drew AS Roma in the second leg of the Europa League semifinal and advanced to the final scheduled for May 22. With that, Leverkusen extended their unbeaten streak to 49 games. The original article published on May 7 is below.
It wasn't enough for Bayer Leverkusen to win the German Bundesliga. And not just to win the league, but to win the league for the first time in the club's 119-year history, to win the league by ending Bayern Munich's 11-season reign as defending champs, and to win the league by overcoming a team with a wage bill more than four times the size of theirs.
It wasn't enough just to do any of that, and it wasn't enough to reach the final of the DFB-Pokal cup, or the German Cup. And it wasn't enough to beat AS Roma 2-0 in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals, either.
All those accomplishments are great -- congrats to Leverkusen on doing all of those things. But rather, Leverkusen under coach Xabi Alonso have defined themselves by avoiding doing another thing: losing.
We're 48 games into Bayer Leverkusen's season. Provided they avoid a collapse at home against Roma this Thursday, there are five games left in their campaign, and no one has beaten them.
Just how unlikely is Leverkusen's run? Where does it rank in the history of the greatest seasons of all time? And what are the chances that they take this streak all the way?
• Live on ESPN+: Leverkusen vs. Kaiserslautern (German Cup, May 25)