Leverkusen was also the first Bundesliga champion to go unbeaten throughout the entire season. The club had five second-place finishes in the league previously but never a title, which gave the club the annoying nickname "Neverkusen".
The team has already secured the season's first title when they defeated Stuttgart in the German Super Cup. But on Friday evening, they enter the real heat when the league season kicks off against Mönchengladbach.
The standard we set last year was so high. We want to reach that again, if not even higher, says Nathan Tella at the team's training camp in Donaueschingen.
During the successful season, coach Xabi Alonso perhaps became the hottest name on the coaching market, and there have been reports of interest from top clubs he represented as a player: Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern München.
But the Spaniard is still in Leverkusen with a contract until 2026 with a buyout clause that comes into effect next year.
He wants to prove that we can do it again. It means something to the players that he believes in this team and trusts that we can do the same thing this season, says team captain Granit Xhaka about his coach.
Besides Alonso, the club has managed to keep its key figures, such as Xhaka himself and last year's big success Florian Wirtz, despite reported interest from clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid.
There's nothing that says we can't do it again. It's just about how we give ourselves over during the season, says Nathan Tella.
