Bayer Leverkusen struck a huge blow in the Bundesliga title race with an emphatic victory over Bayern Munich which sent them five points clear.
Xabi Alonso’s side took the lead in the first half when Josip Stanisic finished clinically at the back post.
The BayArena erupted again shortly after the break when Alex Grimaldo fired in from a tight angle.
Jeremie Frimpong put the gloss on the result in injury time when goalkeeper Manuel Neuer went up for a corner.
Second-placed Bayern, the defending champions having won the past 11 Bundesliga titles, managed just a solitary shot on target as they were blown away.
Leverkusen’s victory means they are now unbeaten in 31 matches in all competitions this season (won 27, drawn four)
Bundesliga runners-up in 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2001-02 and 2010-11 and zero German top-flight titles to their name have led to a cruel moniker for the club in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Their only major trophy was 31 years ago – the 1993 German Cup – yet in such a pivotal encounter there was no hint that history weighed on their shoulders.
They are now just one game short of equalling the unbeaten record set by a Bundesliga club when Bayern went 32 without losing under Hansi Flick from 2019 to 2020.
No team has ever gone through an entire Bundesliga campaign unbeaten – Bayern lost just once in their title successes of 1986-87 and 2012-13.
Indeed, Arsenal, AC Milan and Juventus are the only teams to go a whole season – featuring a minimum of 34 games – unbeaten in one of Europe’s top five leagues.
