Bayer Leverkusen continue to edge towards a remarkable unbeaten season and Xabi Alonso acknowledged every club wants to put that run to an end.
The newly-crowned Bundesliga champions moved a step closer to a treble after beating Roma 2-0 away in their Europa League semi-final first leg on Thursday.
Alonso s side have also reached the DFB-Pokal final against Kaiserslautern as their extraordinary 47-game unbeaten run continues across all competitions.
Leverkusen, who ended Bayern Munich s 11-year stranglehold on the Bundesliga title to secure their first trophy since 1993, travel to sixth-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.
We want to stay unbeaten and we know every week it gets tougher. Everyone wants to beat us, Alonso told reporters.
It hasn t been easy in Frankfurt in recent years, they ve always a tough opponent with a flexible system of play. We don t have much time to prepare.
47! We repeat. 47 games unbeaten!
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en)
The 42-year-old Spaniard will be watching the Frankfurt game from the stands after receiving his fourth yellow card of the season during his side s 2-2 home draw with Stuttgart last week.
You can see the game better from the stands and I can communicate with the bench, he said.
I will miss the direct contact with the team during the game but the players are intelligent enough to decide situations individually on the pitch.
