Bayer Leverkusen have been phenomenal for the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign, and the German side are closing in on an achievement no other side in the history of football has managed: going unbeaten in all competitions over the course of a season.
Over the course of history teams have won trebles, a la Manchester City, Manchester United, Barcelona and the rest, while sides have gone full league seasons unbeaten, such as Arsenal in the Premier League in 2003/04 and Rangers in 2020/21.
No side, however, in the history of men's football at professional level, has ever managed to combine those aspects together to achieve a perfect record, whereby they go unbeaten in every single competitive match they play.
Come May 25, though, that unprecedented feat could have changed, with Bayer Leverkusen on the cusp of creating history.
Indeed, Xabi Alonso's side currently hasn't loss a single match in the Bundesliga, Europa League or DFB-Pokal, with a combined record of 36 wins and just five draws in 41 matches. While winning just the Bundesliga alone would have created history, considering Bayer Leverkusen have never managed to finish first in the German top flight across their 119-year history, Die Schwarzroten have their eyes set on an even greater prize in 2023/24.
But it's not like there haven't been moments in which the record looked like falling this term, with a number of nervy moments only alleviated through stoppage time goals and incredible comebacks.
In just their fourth league match of the season, against Bayern Munich, a 94-minute penalty from Exequiel Palacios was needed to make the scores level at the Allianz Arena, while they also flirted with a home defeat to Hoffenheim at the end of March. 1-0 down until the 88th minute, Leverkusen managed to rally and win the game 2-1.
The Europa League has also produced times where a loss seemed inevitable. Despite coming through the group stages unscathed with six relatively straightforward victories, Bayer Leverkusen were then drawn against group stage opponents Qarabag in the last 16.
In both legs Alonso's side went 2-0 down, with Patrik Schick bailing his side out on both occasions. In the first leg, he netted in the 92nd minute to equalise the game, while in the second game Schick levelled in the 93rd to keep Leverkusen in the competition, before bagging in the eighth minute of stoppage time to send them through.
The Europa League does seem the toughest test for Leverkusen to continue their unbeaten record in all competitions, too. While they'll fancy their chances against West Ham United in the quarter-finals, either Roma or AC Milan will be their opponents in the semis. Come the final, Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool could be waiting for them, in a true test of their mettle.
Ajax are the side most-renowned for coming close to achieving the perfect record feat, in the 1994/95 season. Under Louis Van Gaal, they managed to win the Eredivisie with 27 wins and seven draws in 34 games, as well as lift the Champions League trophy after going unbeaten in their seven matches.
Where they fell down, though, is in the quarter-finals of the Dutch Cup, losing 2-1 after extra time against Feyenoord. While Bayer Leverkusen have managed to reach the final of the DFP-Pokal - their final game of the season - they'll be hoping they don't slip up to second-tier side Kaiserslautern.
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