“The impatience is great. It could be bigger if we had the chance on Sunday. It is clear that if we win, we will be champions and we will have to give our all. It’s 90 minutes to achieve something very special, but it’s a game. It’s three points, it’s a clear objective and for the moment I’m not thinking about it too much”, declared Xabi Alonso on Thursday at a press conference. If the Spaniard preferred to play the card of caution in front of the journalists, he nonetheless remained aware that he was on the verge of writing a beautiful page in the history of Bayer Leverkusen. At the end of yet another breathtaking performance against West Ham (2-0) in the Europa League – which also allowed it to take a serious option on qualifying for the semi-finals – the German club now had its eyes fixed on the championship.
As such, the 29th day of the Bundesliga offered the Pillendrehers the opportunity to realize once and for all all the efforts made since the resumption of hostilities in August. Despite the combined victories of Bayern Munich and VfB Stuttgart, respective defeaters of Cologne (2-0) and Eintracht Frankfurt (3-0) the day before, the West German team – still undefeated in all competitions – could mathematically be crowned German champion for the first time in its history five days before the end of the season. With 13 points ahead of the Bavarians as well as the Swabians, the Werkself had to win to be champions against their counterparts from Werder Bremen, almost assured of remaining at the end of the exercise and who remain on a poor series of six matches without a win (2 draws, 4 defeats).
Bayer Leverkusen puts an end to long years of waiting!
Under the watchful eyes of thousands of B04 supporters, gathered en masse in the bays of the BayArena, it was a team reworked by Xabi Alonso which presented itself against the northern team. From the start, Bayer immediately gained possession of the ball before playing their football. On the edge, Werder endured the debates before being pushed into error at a time when Julian Malatini intervened in a contentious manner on Jonas Hoffmann in his own area. As a symbol, Victor Boniface was responsible for converting the penalty to score his 11th goal of the season in the Bundesliga (25th). Multiplying the opportunities via Edmond Tapsoba (29th), Jonas Hofmann (35th) or even Amine Adli (38th), the North Rhine-Westphalia club was unable to take cover at the break. Continuing to insist in the second half, Bayer Leverkusen took off with a goal from Granit Xhaka (60th) then a sublime missile from Florian Wirtz (69th). The young attacking midfielder even saw a double (83rd) and triple (90th) at the end of the match which caused two invasions of the pitch. A 5-0 victory for Bayer Leverkusen who put on a show.
Despite winning the title, there is no question of relaxing for Xabi Alonso and others. As they enter the decisive weeks of April and May, Leverkusen are aiming for the grand slam as they still have a German Cup final to play against Kaiserslautern next May. In addition, the West German club can consider completing its adventure in the Europa League. Still undefeated in 43 matches played in all competitions this season, thus equaling the performance of Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus during the 2011-2012 season, Leverkusen can become a little more legendary by becoming the first club across the Rhine to complete a Bundesliga exercise without having experienced the slightest setback. At the same time, there will also be a points record up for grabs, currently held by the Rekordmeister and his 91 units at the end of the 2012-2013 season. In other words, this title of German champion can constitute the first step in a season of all records for the B04.
