While it was no great surprise that Regionalliga Nord outfit FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen shipped eight goals without reply in getting knocked out in the first round of the German equivalent of the FA Cup by Bayer Leverkusen last August, nobody who was involved in the match had any idea of the significance of the hammering they had just watched unfold. Ostensibly a fourth-tier side who had only earned the right to play in the DFB-Pokal once before, Teutonia were almost certainly happy to take their licks in return for a big payday but could yet go down in football history as the extremely difficult answer to the pub quiz question: “Who was the first team Bayer Leverkusen played when they went an entire season unbeaten in all competitions at home and abroad in 2023-24?”

　　A whopping 48 games later, each of them against far more testing opposition than the comparative cannon fodder of Teutonia, Leverkusen have not suffered a single defeat in the Cup, Bundesliga or Big Vase. Now, having already wrapped up the league for the first time in their history, they now find themselves in a position where they could go an entire 53-game season without losing once – to anybody in any competition. With all due respect to the famous Arsenal title-winning squad of 2003-04, this is the kind of streak that makes Martin Keown, Lauren and chums resemble comparatively ham-fisted “Vincibles”.

　　With just four matches to play and almost everyone on the planet with a passing interest in football and anything resembling a soul willing them on, Leverkusen’s remaining games in a Bundesliga they won last month have now attained the status of textareaphorical cup finals. Beyond those, the two games Xabi Alonso’s side have to play are actual cup finals. Specifically, a Big Vase final against Atalanta followed by a domestic cup final against Kaiserslautern. Having just broken the European record for the longest unbeaten run across all competitions since Uefa competitions began, four more games without defeat will ensure immortality for being unbeaten across the entire season.

　　他们的努力早在9月份就有可能失败，在补时阶段第4分钟帕拉西奥斯(Exequiel Palacios)的一记点球避免了输给拜仁慕尼黑(Bayern Munich)。总而言之，德国冠军当选人本赛季在90分钟或更长的时间里进了17个球，仅在过去的18天里，勒沃库森就依靠在89分钟、90+7分钟、90+6分钟和90+7分钟的进球来保持不败的梦想。当被问及他们是如何做到这一点时，杰里米·弗林蓬回答说:“我们拥有的团队纽带。”“没有人会放弃。每个人都知道，如果我们落后，我们会得到一个进球。好吧，我们(对罗马)进球使比分变为2-1，我们晋级了，但我们仍然想要更多。”《足球日报》也提出了一个问题:如果勒沃库森在剩余的德甲对阵波洪和奥格斯堡的比赛中获胜，但在他们进入的杯赛决赛中在点球大战中输掉一场或两场比赛，他们的赛季还会被视为不可战胜的赛季吗?我们绝不是迂腐的，但任何一场以点球决胜负的决赛在技术上都是平局。

　　“I will try absolutely everything not to get involved in any kind of discussions” – Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp insists he’ll be on his best behaviour at Villa on Monday night, what with the threat of a touchline ban looming that would leave him in the stands for his Anfield farewell next Sunday.

　　Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Ed Taylor.

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