Jonathan Tah says Bayer Leverkusen have target on back after ...

Jonathan Tah believes Bayer Leverkusen's historic campaign has put a target on their back ahead of a climatic end to the season.

Die Werkself reached a half-century of unbeaten matches in all competitions with a 5-0 win away at Bochum having already secured the Bundesliga title.

Xabi Alonso's side have three games left in their bid to secure an unprecedented treble - a league game against FC Augsburg, the DFB-Pokal final against FC Kaiserslautern and the climax of the Europa League against Atalanta.

And after a historic 12 months, Tah expects teams will be up their game when they face the German champions. 

"You can feel that everyone is watching us and that every opponent is coming to us and wants to beat us," said the German international. 

"They want to be the first one to beat us, that is a feeling we have never had before. 

"Everyone is chasing us right now and everyone wants to beat us right now.

"It is a new feeling and it is a nice feeling."

Leverkusen set a new European unbeaten record of 49 successive games and reached the Europa League final with a miraculous 2-2 draw against Italian giants Roma earlier this month.

Josip Stanisic's 97th-minute equaliser helped Alonso's side to a 2-2 draw on the night and a 4-2 aggregate victory, and Tah believes the remarkable run shows Leverkusen can be as dominant in Europe as they have been domestically. 

"[On playing in a European final] It is something big, we have achieved something big," he said. 

"In Germany, we dominated, and we have the cup final now as well.

"But not only in Germany, we have done it in Europe as well, and we have come this far and we have the chance to play in the final of the Europa League. 

"That means a lot to us, to the team and to the club. Obviously, now that we are in the final we want to win them." 

Xabi Alonso looks set to stay at BayArena despite reports of former clubs Liverpool and Bayern Munich being interested in the Spaniard. 

Tah thinks he has learnt a lot from the World Cup winner since his return to Germany in 2022.

"He has given the team so much input tactically yes, but also mentally," he said. 

"How to deal with different situations, how to win 50 games in a row and stay humble and go to the next game and be motivated and competitive again and not think that we have already made it. 

"It can be dangerous if you have a great streak, to keep up that momentum anh, that level of activity and intensity on the pitch can be so hard sometimes. 

"I think that is a big part of the coach, he has given us a lot of input for that. 

"[The most important principles of playing under Alonso] To always be active, to never be passive, to always want the ball, always be in a good position and always be moving. 

"And to be courageous, never be afraid of making mistakes or creating something with courage." 

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