The most shocking thing was how easy it was. One would have expected Bayer Leverkusen's successful quest to end Bayern Munich's 11-year Bundesliga title streak to be titanic, full of the kind of drama and plot twists that defined Borussia Dortmund's failed run the year before. But Leverkusen ended the streak and won their first-ever league title by simply being better than Bayern from start to finish.
They walloped Bayern in a key head-to-head in early February. By the time the season had ended, they had also clinched both the first-ever unbeaten Bundesliga campaign and a domestic double, winning the DFB Pokal with ease as well. Their only loss all season came in the UEFA Europa League final against a torrid Atalanta.
The run was a combination of years of smart spending, a perfect managerial hire (Xabi Alonso), and a perfect summer of 2023 transfers. Now, with the 2024-25 Bundesliga season beginning this week -- all matches can be found on ESPN+, starting with Bayer Leverkusen at Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday afternoon (2:30 p.m. ET) -- we'll find out if Bayer Leverkusen can pull off the only thing harder than what they accomplished last season: doing it all again.