Revealed: How Alonso’s Leverkusen ended Bayern’s dynasty
Bayer Leverkusen has won her first Bundesliga title, ending Bayern Munich‘s 11-year reign as champion.
With 29 games played this season without a loss, the team has set a league record. This is their first trophy since 1993.
Xabi Alonso’s team leads second-place Bayern Munich by 16 points after stretching its German record unbeaten run to 43 games across all competitions this season with a 5:0 win over Werder Bremen on Sunday to secure the club’s first-ever German league title with five games remaining.
In the historic showdown at the BayArena, Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen etched their name into Bundesliga history with that resounding victory over Bremen.
Nathan Tella set the tone as Leverkusen established their authority early on. Michael Zetterer made a fantastic save to deny Piero Hincapié’s shot after his accurate delivery.
They were awarded a penalty in the twenty-fourth minute, and Victor Boniface who had barely returned from a three-month injury layoff stepped up to score his first league goal since December and his 11th of the year.
Leverkusen reached new heights with their effort in the second half. Granit Xhaka stretched Leverkusen’s lead even further with a powerful long-range shot. Florian Wirtz, who was outstanding all season, finished with a clinical touch to add his name to the scoreboard.
Wirtz completed his hat-trick just as the final whistle was about to sound, setting off joyful celebrations among the sellout crowd of 30,000 at Leverkusen.
With the win, Leverkusen not only ended Bayern Munich’s dominance but also established themselves as strong candidates for more hardware in the DFB-Pokal and UEFA Europa League where they already have a 2-0 quarterfinals first-leg advantage over West Ham United.
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Fans had already stormed onto the field when Leverkusen scored its fourth goal with seven minutes to go, and the final minutes were played in thick red smoke from supporters’ pyrotechnics while players on Leverkusen’s bench clapped along to songs, danced and hugged one another.
When Alonso took over as coach in October 2022, Leverkusen was in the relegation zone. Reflecting on ending Bayern’s domination, he said, the “Perhaps it’s healthy for the Bundesliga, also for German football, for another team to win,” said Alonso, who played for Bayern Munich fo 2015-2017 season while racking up three Bundesliga titles with Bayern
“It’s a great joy and we have to enjoy it. We need a bit more time to realize what we’ve achieved. But it’s a super moment and yes, we’ll see what happens next,” Alonso said, referring to the other trophies that his team can win this season. “But now is the time to celebrate.”
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