Leverkusen crush 10-man Bochum to stretch unbeaten run to 50 matches

BOCHUM, Germany : Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen crushed hosts VfL Bochum 5-0 on Sunday to stretch their remarkable unbeaten run across all competitions this season to 50 consecutive matches.

On Thursday Xabi Alonso's team, aiming for a treble of titles, surpassed Benfica's long-standing European unbeaten record set from 1963 to 1965 with a 2-2 draw against AS Roma that sent them through to the Europa League final.

On Saturday they did not ease off against lowly Bochum, scoring twice late in the first half versus the last Bundesliga team to beat them in the previous season.

Patrik Schick put Leverkusen in the driving seat in the 41st minute and Victor Boniface doubled their lead with a penalty in first-half added time, with Bochum down to 10 men following a straight red card for Felix Passlack in the 15th minute.

Amine Adli made it 3-0 in the 76th and Josip Stanisic added another in the 86th with a low drive before delivering an assist for Alejandro Grimaldo to score in stoppage time with a tap-in.

Leverkusen, who face Atalanta in the Europa League showpiece match and Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final, have 87 points with one Bundesliga game left this season.

Bayern Munich, 2-0 winners against VfL Wolfsburg earlier on Sunday, are 15 points behind in second place.