Xabi Alonso's men have a major chance of going from Neverkusen to Treblekusen this season with his brilliant team contesting two finals in the coming weeks.

bundesliga.com looks just how likely Leverkusen are to lift the lot this year.

It is so easy for football fans to get the jitters at this stage of the season. That has not been the case for the lucky followers of Leverkusen though, whose side are steamrolling away on a staggering record-breaking unbeaten run that has taken Alonso's men to the club's first Bundesliga title and the final of both the DFB Cup and UEFA Europa League.

Watch: Bayer Leverkusen: No More Neverkusen

Given Leverkusen's scintillating season, they are strong favourites to lift both the DFB Cup and the UEFA Europa League, but the burden of history could create some doubt - or give the current crop extra motivation. Back in 2001/2002, a brilliant Leverkusen side featuring Michael Ballack, Oliver Neuville, Dimitar Berbatov, Lucio and Ze Reberto came within a whisker of not just one but three major honours.

In May 2002, the world of a side that had thrilled German football came crashing down - with an agonising one-point shortfall on Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund, a 4-2 defeat to Schalke in the DFB Cup final and 2-1 loss to Real Madrid despite a sterling performance in the UEFA Champions League final. It is that campaign that spawned the 'Neverkusen' and 'Eternal Bridesmaids' tags the club has struggled to shake off. 

History alone is therefore teaching Leverkusen's players and fans to keep their feet on the ground and keep taking one step at a time towards their dreams. Having banished their demons by finally claiming the Meisterschale, though, the question has to be asked; can they now complete a terrific treble? 

Michael Ballack (left) and Bayer Leverkusen were beaten 2-1 by Zinedine Zidane (right) and Real Madrid in the 2002 UEFA Champions League final. - 2002 Getty Images

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Bundesliga in the bag

Klaus Toppmöller, who coached Leverkusen to the trio of near misses in 2002, saw the potential to erase the pain his side suffered early on. "My former club have a huge chance to put the name Vizekusen behind them," he said. "I have not for a long time seen a team that are so confident on the ball, determined, quick and tactically so superb."  

The Bundesliga table is a testament to their sheer dominance, with Leverkusen claiming the title on Matchday 29 out of 34 with a win over Werder Bremen. In the process, Alonso's men became the first team since Borussia Dortmund in 2011/12 to beat Bayern to a Bundesliga title, ending both Bayern's 11-year grip on the trophy and Leverkusen's lifelong barren-run at the same time. With one game remaining, Die Werkself can end the campaign with 90 points, just one behind Bayern's single season record in the 2012/13 campaign.

Watch: Leverkusen - champions at last!

Dreams of Dublin?

Perhaps the most unpredictable element in Leverkusen's potential treble has been the UEFA Europa League. A much-changed Werkself team has been used throughout the tournament, with Alonso ringing the changes to balance domestic and European challenges.

It's worked, though. Leverkusen cruised out of Group H with six wins from six before the knockouts tested fans' heart rates with some of the most dramatic matches in the club's history. Having already beaten Qarabag twice in the group stages, Leverkusen trailed their Azerbaijan counterparts 2-0 in the first-leg of the last-16, only to clinch a 2-2 draw thanks to goals from substitutes Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick. They then went 2-0 down again in the second-leg before another Schick double in injury-time sealed a 3-2 victory.

The quarter-final win over West Ham wasn't quite as hair-raising and the semi-finals looked to be straightforward after Leverkusen left Italy having beaten Roma 2-0. Two penalties at the BayArena saw Roma level the tie and, with less than 10 minutes to go, extra-time beckoned. A Gianluca Mancini own goal put Leverkusen back ahead and yet another stoppage-time goal kept their unbeaten run alive thanks to Josip Stanišić's 97th-minute effort.

Now bound for Dublin, Leverkusen will contest the Europa League final in Ireland on 22 May against another Italian outfit, Atalanta. If the club are able to cap a staggering season with a European honour, it would be their second after the 1988 UEFA Cup.

Up for the cup?

There is no doubt that the champions will head to the DFB Cup final in Berlin on 25 May as overwhelming favourites in the final against a Kaiserslautern team that narrowly avoided relegation danger in Bundesliga 2, but shocks do happen in the DFB Cup - keep in mind that Bayern were eliminated by third-tier Saarbrücken earlier in the season.

Leverkusen's only major domestic honour was their 1993 cup win, and they are in pole position to repeat that feat in 2024. Victory in the showpiece - played just three days after the UEL final - will secure that remarkable treble.

Leverkusen captain Franco Foda lifts the DFB Cup trophy in 1993, in the club's only domestic honour to date. - imago sportfotodienst via www.imago-images.de

Will they do it?

Alonso had spent the season steering clear of any talk about honours at the end of May, but after winning the Bundesliga title in April, treble talk has become unavoidable. 

"To win a final is tougher than reaching one," said Alonso in the aftermath of booking a spot in the UEL final. "We will prepare to our best abilities but this team has already shown they are ready for everything. Every player wants to play their part. We have two finals now, first Atalanta and then Kaiserslautern."

One thing is for certain, this Leverkusen outfit can never be written off having gone 50 games unbeaten and consistently hauled themselves over the line at the very death of games. And, having seen his side work so hard to get in their current position, Alonso will now want to see them get over the line.

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