Arriving at Bayer Leverkusen while the German club was in a disappointing and dangerous 17th place, Xabi Alonso has already won his bet. Former glory of Liverpool and Real Madrid, the Spanish defensive midfielder, world champion in 2010, opted for an apprenticeship with the youngsters of Real Madrid and Real Sociedad before finally taking the plunge last October. Already close to Borussia Mönchengladbach, it is therefore another Bundesliga team, Bayer Leverkusen, which has had its favors. However, after the initial victory against Schalke 04 (4-0), Xabi Alonso had difficulty stopping the dynamic of his team and getting his playing system adopted. Beaten by Porto (3-0) then hung by Atlético Madrid (2-2) and Bruges (0-0) in the Champions League, Bayer Leverkusen limited the damage by being transferred to the Europa League. In the championship, the club was held by Wolfsburg (2-2) then dominated by RB Leipzig (2-0).
A real period of doubt which was followed by an ideal winter break to work even more on the automatisms in the 3-4-3 modular to 3-4-1-2 of Xabi Alonso. The return of Florian Wirtz from a serious cruciate ligament injury (4 goals and 8 goals in 25 games) also added a touch of creativity that was missing in this team. And like a puzzle finding its missing piece, everything came together. Semi-finalist in the Europa League, the German club finished sixth in the Bundesliga, snatching a qualifying place in the Europa League. They had for a long time the best record of the second half of the season in the Bundesliga before finally relaxing without consequence during the last five days (3 draws and 2 defeats). The 2023/2024 season therefore appeared to be that of confirmation for Xabi Alonso and his Bayer Leverkusen.
An ambitious transfer window
Only losing ‘only’ Moussa Diaby (Aston Villa) and Kerem Demirbay (Galatasaray) as senior players of the team, Bayer Leverkusen was able to keep its other talented elements such as Edmond Tapsoba, Piero Hincapié, Jeremie Frimpong, Amine Adli or Florian Wirtz. Better, the Werkself has been considerably strengthened with a replacement goalkeeper (Matej Kovar, Manchester United), a right-axis central defender (Josip Stanisic, Bayern Munich), a left piston (Alejandro Grimaldo, Benfica), a midfielder operating in the double pivot (Granit A transfer window focusing on young elements and others, more experienced, but approaching or slightly reaching thirty years, which is very interesting and financially intelligent (less than €60M spent for the 7 reinforcements of Leverkusen by integrating the right side Arthur).
Thus offering a more quantitatively and qualitatively expanded workforce to Xabi Alonso, the German club received in exchange a great mark of confidence since the latter extended at the beginning of August until June 2026. Nevertheless, Sports Bild revealed that a secret clause could be activated by the Basque if a big club makes a suitable offer to sign him. While waiting for this possibility, the coach linked to Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, but especially Real Madrid during last summer is focusing entirely on the championship. The preparation was good and shows a good rise in power, notably with interesting victories against Olympique de Marseille (2-1) and West Ham (4-0). In the German Cup, the victory against amateurs Teutonia Ottensen (8-0) also provided a good bit of confidence.
Convincing beginnings
However, the Spanish coach did not want to get excited on the eve of the start of the season and a clash against RB Leipzig: “we haven’t started yet, there is no reason to be congratulated. We are not stupid! We don’t think we’re the best. Because we haven’t achieved anything yet. There are no medals in August…” For the trophy, we will certainly have to wait, but for success it is real with a 3-2 victory obtained against the Saxons in what was the shock of the first day. The movements of Victor Boniface, the vista of Florian Wirtz and the explosiveness of Jeremie Frimpong hit the mark during a victory which can already be compared to a first good reference for the German club. Moreover, across the Rhine, some are already getting excited.
This is particularly the case of the 2014 world champion Kevin Großkreutz who declared this to Bild : “The team has taken a huge step forward under Alonso. I can even imagine that Alonso will be the next Bayern coach.” Strong words from the former Borussia Dortmund player which demonstrate the confidence surrounding the project led by Bayer Leverkusen. Candidate for a top 4 at the end of the season and ambitious in the Europa League, the German club presents itself as one of the thrilling teams of this 2023/2024 financial year and its polished play is no stranger to this. After a successful first, the Werkself easily erased Borussia Mönchengladbach (4-0) and Darmstadt (5-1). The right piston Jeremie Frimpong (1 goal and 3 offerings) as well as the playmaker Florian Wirtz (1 goal and 2 offerings) and his counterpart Jonas Hofmann (1 goal and 2 offerings) are the symbols of this great start to the season. But one man stands out even more, rookie Victor Boniface (4 goals, 3 goals).
“He’s a typical center forward. He always wants to score goals. And he always wants to improve for the team. He always has the team in mind. Victor can face two central defenders. This is a big problem for opponents. Physically, technically, he makes deep races” explained in particular Xabi Alonso on the side of Sports Bild. Powerful, fast, technically comfortable, Victor Boniface is the new darling of the BayArena and affirms the rise in power of Bayer Leverkusen. However, confirmation will take place over time and what could be better than a match against Bayern Munich for the leader of the Bundesliga to further establish its ambitions. We will already have new answers this Friday evening.
