How Bayer Leverkusen ended Bayern’s 11-year dominance in German football
Xabi Alonso's side clinched the title -19 points away from Bayern Munich with five games to spare after thrashing 5-0 Werder Bremen in front of their jubilant supporters at the BayArena on Sunday (14 April)
Bayer Leverkusen are champions of Germany for the first time in their 120-year history.
Xabi Alonso’s side clinched the title -19 points away from Bayern Munich with five games to spare after a thrashing 5-0 win over Werder Bremen in front of their jubilant supporters at the BayArena on Sunday.
It is a remarkable achievement by former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Alonso, who took charge in October 2022 with the club second bottom of the table.
Leverkusen’s triumph ended Bayern’s stranglehold on the league after 11 title wins in a row. Bayern Munich have dominated German football to such an extent that the last team to win the Bundesliga other than Bayern in recent years was Borussia Dortmund way back in 2012.
But Alonso’s side have taken the league by storm dropping just eight points, with 25 wins in their 29 matches and four draws- the longest run in a Bundesliga season.
In addition, they are on course for an incredible treble after establishing a 2-0 first-leg lead over West Ham in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, while they face second-tier Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final on 25 May.
Clever Transfers
Leverkusen are known in Germany as a development club. Signing Granit Xhaka, a player in his thirties from Arsenal, was an atypical move. As were the decisions to bring in Jonas Hofmann (31) and Alejandro Grimaldo (then 27).
Simon Rolfes, Leverkusen’s director of sport was happy with the talent levels, but before the 2023-24 season, he was after more structure. “We needed more stability in certain positions,” he told the Athletic. “We also needed to add experienced players to those we have, guys like Robert Andrich, Jonathan Tah, and Lukas Hradecky, and to provide the team with more role models.”
Xhaka’s presence, leadership, and charisma were key to bringing more resilience onto the pitch.
There was also an important change in the backroom staff. Thomas Eichin, a former player with Borussia Gladbach who had been head of the academy at Bayer, was appointed director of professional teams in the summer to relieve Rolfes of many organisational and administrative chores.
They also note that the club managed to get their number one transfer targets in every single position, a feat that rarely happens.
Relentless Alonso
Xabi Alonso, took charge in October 2022 with the club second bottom on the table with just 5 points from the opening 8 games but the young coach has turned the club into title competitors.
Few clubs in Germany have been jilted as often as Leverkusen. ‘Vizekusen’ (second-kusen) or Neverkusen are tags that came from an extraordinary period between 2000 and 2002.
Leverkusen were extremely gifted but incredibly unfortunate. It is difficult to think of another team that went so close to so much but fell short so often and during such a brief period.
In 2002, they were runners-up to Dortmund and Schalke in the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal, and to Zinedine Zidane’s timeless volley and Real Madrid in the Champions League.
The season left a trio of bitter pills to swallow and, in the absence of a trophy, the nickname ‘Neverkusen’ stuck.
Xabi is a very big one,”- Rolfes Leverkusen’s director of sport said. “He’s an incredibly hard worker. He’s top in terms of his coaching know-how but most importantly, his mentality has rubbed off on the players.
“He’s relentlessly focused on the next game, always pushing for improvement. As a former superstar on the pitch, he knows what it takes to perform at the highest level every three days. He has set an incredible example.”
“We have to enjoy and celebrate today with our families, friends and fans,” said Xabi Alonso, who was showered with beer after the victory in a German tradition. “This was my first [full] season as a coach, the feeling is incredible.”
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