Sources
Short link: storygaffer.com/04. The narration is AI-generated.
History · Arsenal 2003/04 · Leverkusen 2023/24
Leverkusen's unbeaten season was saved by stoppage time.
Arsenal in 2003/04 and Bayer Leverkusen in 2023/24 both went a whole league season unbeaten, and both finished on 90 points. Stop every match at 90:00, though, and Arsenal gain points while Leverkusen lose three games.
The stat that matters
Stop at 90:00: Arsenal gain 4 points, Leverkusen lose 9.
Match report
- Arsenal (Premier League 2003/04) and Bayer Leverkusen (Bundesliga 2023/24) both went unbeaten in the league, and both finished on 90 points.
- We went through all 38 of Arsenal's league games and all 34 of Leverkusen's, event by event.
- Arsenal were behind for just over 4 hours across the season. Leverkusen were behind for just under 5.
- Stop every match at 90:00 and Arsenal gain 4 points, because Leicester and Spurs both equalised against them in stoppage time.
- Leverkusen lose 9 points: their games against Bayern, Dortmund and Stuttgart all become defeats.
- Leverkusen scored 8 league goals in stoppage time, and 3 of them saved the unbeaten run.
- "At 90:00" means every goal after the 90th minute of the second half is ignored. First-half stoppage time is kept. Time spent behind is measured from the event timestamps.
The players and scoreboards are illustrations. The numbers are worked out from StatsBomb's data.
On screen
- Leverkusen's unbeaten season was saved by stoppage time.
- Arsenal, 2004.
- Leverkusen, 20 years later.
- Both finished on 90 points.
- Every league game, event by event.
- Arsenal were behind for just over 4 hours.
- Leverkusen: just under 5.
- Now stop every match at 90:00.
- Arsenal gain 4 points.
- Leverkusen lose 9.
- All three become defeats.
- 8 stoppage-time goals. 3 saved the run.
- Invincible? Only after the 90th minute.