Leverkusen unbeaten in 50 games after 5-0 thrashing of Bochum

Champions Bayer Leverkusen have reached the incredible milestone of 50 unbeaten games in all competitions this season after thrashing relegation-threatened Bochum 5-0 on Sunday, reported Xinhua.

Elsewhere, Bayern Munich bounced back from their Champions League exit with a 2-0 Bundesliga win against VfL Wolfsburg, while Hoffenheim moved closer to a spot in an European competition after a 6-0 thrashing of relegated Darmstadt.

Bochum were down to 10 men since the 15th minute after Felix Passlack was sent off for wrestling down Nathan Tella as the last man.

They resisted for a while, but Patrik Schick broke down Bochum's defence in the 41st to give Leverkusen the lead. Victor Boniface made it 2-0 from the spot shortly before the break, after Tella was taken down inside the box.

Amine Adli in the 76th, Josip Stanisic in the 86th and Alejandro Grimaldo in stoppage time completed the win.

Xabi Alonso's men will receive the Bundesliga trophy next week and can become the first team to finish the league unbeaten by avoiding defeat to Augsburg.

"We don't go onto the pitch and say we don't want to lose. Instead, we go onto the pitch to win," defender Jonathan Tah said.

After that, Leverkusen will aim to complete their first-ever treble season in the Europa League final against Atalanta on May 22 and in the German Cup showdown against Kaiserslautern three days later.

Bochum will need to take at least one point from the match against Werder Bremen to stay in the top tier. A defeat could see them finishing the season in the relegation play-off depending on other results.

Bayern missed the chance to play the Champions League final at Wembley after a late and dramatic 2-1 defeat at Real Madrid on Wednesday.

In his final home game of the season, departing coach Thomas Tuchel made eight changes to his line-up and handed first Bundesliga starts to January signing Bryan Zaragoza and academy graduate Lovro Zvonarek.

Croatian Zvonarek had a perfect debut and netted Bayern's opener in the fourth minute following an assist from Thomas Müller. The veteran midfielder also contributed to the second goal in the 13th as he laid the ball off to Leon Goretzka who curled it in.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer celebrated his 500th Bundesliga game before he made way for debutant Daniel Peretz. Also making their maiden appearance in the league were 18-year-old players Matteo Pérez Vinlöf and Jonathan Asp-Jensen.

With the victory, Bayern moved back up to second place, which had been temporarily taken by VfB Stuttgart after their 1-0 win at Augsburg on Friday.

There was no official farewell to Tuchel before the kick-off in the sold-out arena. It has already been announced that he will leave Bayern at the end of the season. The club is yet to find a new coach.

"We're not bidding farewell to our coaching staff led by Thomas Tuchel today, the season is not over yet. We will make up for it in a fitting way - we promise," the stadium announcer said before the game.

Tuchel also didn't accompany his team when they greeted the fans after the win, but said: "Please don't read anything into it. The fans don't come for the coach. I don't like being the centre of attention.

"It's never about me, it's always about the team. They should be celebrated," he said in a news conference.

Wolfsburg, meanwhile, stay 12th and can no longer qualify for Europe.

Hoffenheim are chasing an European berth and welcome Bayern next weekend in the final matchday of the season, but for now will be glad the Bavarians prevailed over Wolfsburg.

Ihlas Bebou and Maximilian Beier scored a brace each, while Pavel Kadeřábek and Ozan Kabak also added their names to the scoresheet.

Hoffenheim moved up to seventh, which currently qualifies to the Conference League. However, if Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen win the German Cup to complete a domestic double, then seventh place will become a Europa League place.

"We knew that the three points matter, but also that every goal is important. We wanted to score a seventh goal but did not manage to. Now there is more at stake. We have earned a “final” against Bayern," coach Pellegrino Matarazzo said.

Darmstadt, on the other hand, had their relegation confirmed last month and bid the fans a melancholic farewell in their last home game of the season.