Leverkusen secure maiden Bundesliga title with 5-0 win over Bremen

LEVERKUSEN, Germany: Undefeated Bayer Leverkusen secured their first Bundesliga title on Sunday (Apr 15) with a 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen, breaking an 11-year stranglehold on the league by Bayern Munich.

Xabi Alonso's team, who have now gone a league-record 29 matches without defeat this season to secure their first trophy since 1993, have a 16-point lead over Bayern with five matches remaining.

They can add more titles this season, having reached the German Cup final and the Europa League quarter-finals where they have a 2-0 first-leg advantage over West Ham United.

Leverkusen left nothing to chance and sealed their title win at the first opportunity with Florian Wirtz bagging a hat-trick in a win that stretched their unbeaten run across all competitions to a remarkable 43 games this season.

"I cannot describe this," Germany international Wirtz said. "I personally can still not realise this has happened. I will need a few moments in the changing room to understand what we have achieved.

"We could not have imagined something like this when you see how the previous season went."

They earned a 24th-minute penalty and Victor Boniface, who only recently came back after a three-month injury break, stepped up to score his first league goal since December and his 11th of the campaign.

There were more chances to double their lead in a one-sided first half, with Amine Adli also hitting the woodwork for the hosts.

Fans had been out in force from early morning across the city to prepare for the big moment, having queued for hours outside the stadium before the gates opened. Now they could barely stay in their seats with their team only 45 minutes away from the title.

Werder came out fighting after the break, trying to spoil the party,