'Anything is possible' - champions-elect Leverkusen eye treble

Bayer Leverkusen are setting their sights on a title treble now that they have one hand on the Bundesliga trophy and the German Cup final is still several weeks away, reported dpa.

Xabi Alonso's team takes an unbeaten run of 41 matches into their Europa League quarter-final first leg match on Thursday against West Ham United.

Leverkusen are expected to have clinched a maiden Bundesliga title by the time of the second leg of the tie in London on April 18.

A 1-0 victory at Union Berlin on Saturday, coupled with another Bayern Munich setback in the form of a 3-2 defeat in Heidenheim, means that Leverkusen will be champions with five games to spare if they beat Werder Bremen next Sunday.

The trophy will also be theirs if Bayern and VfB Stuttgart, who are tied on points, lose their games a day earlier.

"The earlier we become champions the earlier we can focus even more on the Europa League," midfielder Granit Xhaka said.

"We're not unbeatable, but if we continue with the same mentality and do our work as down-to-earth as before, anything is possible."

Should Leverkusen prevail over the Conference League holders West Ham they would face Italian opposition in the form of AC Milan or last year's finalists Roma in the May 2 and 9 semi-finals.

Leverkusen reached the semis of Europe's second tier event last season and now want to go a step further and make the May 22 final in Dublin, where Alonso's ex-club Liverpool could be the opponents in what would be the last match of Reds manager Jürgen Klopp.

A possible final would come four days after the Bundesliga finale where Leverkusen would receive the trophy after their game against Augsburg, and three days ahead of the German Cup final where they are big favourites against second division Kaiserslautern.