With less than 2 minutes to go till the end of stoppage time at the BayArena, Bayer Leverkusen were leading VFL Bochum 4-0. Leverkusen had already been crowned winter champions of Germany, thanks to a 4-point lead over second-placed Bayern Munich before the Bundesliga paused for a 3-week winter break.
Manuel Riemann, the Bochum goalkeeper, sent a goal kick soaring into the Leverkusen half. Edmond Tapsoba, Leverkusen’s Burkinabe centre-back, attempted to glance the high ball towards Bayer’s goalkeeper Lucas Hradecky, but miscontrolled the ball.
Twenty-three-year-old Patrick Osterhage, Bochum’s German midfielder, pounced on the loose ball and managed to steer it into Leverkusen’s penalty box. As Osterhage struck the ball aiming for the bottom corner of the opposition goal at the far post, Leverkusen’s defensive midfielder Robert Andrich rushed back and blocked the shot in the nick of time. An almost certain goal was averted.
But Andrich did not stop there.
As the ball raced towards the byline, Osterhage chased after it to recover possession. Andrich picked himself up from the ground, dashed after the ball and managed to boot it away from the byline. Now Bochum would have only a throw-in and not a corner.
Andrich, who has lost his place in the Leverkusen starting 11 this season after the Werkself signed Granit Xhaka from Arsenal last summer, would not allow his team to go into the winter break without a clean sheet in their last match.
A minute later, Andrich had his wish.
Xabi Alonso’s men closed out the match 4-0 and stretched their unbeaten start to the season to 25 games across all competitions, beating the German record of 24 games without defeat set by Hamburger SV at the start of the 1982-83 season. (Leverkusen’s unbeaten run reached 26 games after their 1-0 victory over Augsburg on January 13).
Alonso’s tenure at Leverkusen also began in similar record-setting fashion: in October 2022, the Werkself were off to the worst start to a season in their history. After 8 matchdays under Swiss coach Gerardo Seoane, they had collected just 5 points out of a possible 24.
Bochum are the last team to have beaten Bayer Leverkusen, doing so when dispatching the Werkself with a 3-0 defeat on the last matchday of the 2022/23 Bundesliga season.
“When I came, the situation was very bad. Now we have qualified for Europe again,” said Alonso in May 2023 in the aftermath of Leverkusen’s defeat to Bochum.
“It’s very important in the future that we don’t repeat the mistakes we made this season and continue to develop.”
His wards have followed his brief into the new season.
As mentioned in the first part of this series, when assessing the title chances of the three challengers to Bayern’s Bundesliga title this season, we’ll look at 3 parameters:
- How the contenders have fared against each other this season
- How each club has fared against Bayern Munich, the champions and
- How each club has fared against the remaining teams in the division
BAYER LEVERKUSEN VS RB LEIPZIG
Date: August 19, 2023
Result: Bayer Leverkusen 3-2 RB Leipzig
Leverkusen kicked off the season with a 3-2 win over the more-fancied RB Leipzig on matchday 1 of the Bundesliga. Leipzig have emerged as title contenders in the past few seasons but Leverkusen dominated most of the match with ferocious pressing. They did not allow Marco Rose’s men to build from the middle, relegating their attacks mostly to the flanks and defended vigilantly inside the penalty box. It was only in the last quarter of the match that the Werkself were truly under the pump, when Leipzig scored their second goal and attacked in numbers seeking an equaliser. Leverkusen, however, staved them off.
“Three points and that is all until next weekend. It’s a statement – but only until next week,” said Alonso when asked about their title ambitions.
“I am very satisfied with the result as well as the performance. Especially in the first half we played really well. A lot of focus and concentration. It is normal to struggle a bit against a top team like Leipzig.”
BAYERN MUNICH VS BAYER LEVERKUSEN
Date: September 16, 2023
Result: Bayern Munich 2-2 Bayer Leverkusen
Xabi Alonso was candid. “In the first 5 minutes it was like we were still in the hotel,” said the Leverkusen coach after his team’s performance against Bayern last December. “But after 15 minutes, I saw my team. The draw is ok for us. Bayern could have won, but so could have we. We are in a process and so far we are happy.”
The Spaniard’s comments were a fair reflection of a well-contested match that either team could have won. Bayern were the better side in the first half, dominating both the opening and closing portions. It was still only Matchday 4 and Leverkusen were still a work in progress, and it showed.
For the first 15 minutes of the match, it looked as if the Werkself might suffer the same fate that befalls so many of Bayern’s challengers: working themselves into good form to make themselves title contenders, before being blown away by the Bavarian juggernaut when coming up against them one-to-one (a la that howler by Gregor Kobel in Der Klassiker last year, which allowed Bayern to race to a 3-0 lead within 18 minutes, effectively ending the match as a contest). But Leverkusen survived Bayern’s onslaught and created enough chances to win the game.
It was a fair result on the balance of play, but of course we wanted all three points. Leverkusen are a top side with really good individuals and a good game plan.
Konrad Laimer, Bayern Munich midfielder
Leverkusen captain Lukas Hradecky was in exceptional form throughout the match, making several crucial blocks that would otherwise have ended up as goals. “The blueprint (for success) is clear enough,” Hradecky later told Kicker magazine. “If you want to take points (at the Allianz Arena), defenders need to block and the keeper needs to hold a few (shots).”
“We controlled the game,” claimed Hradecky. “You could see it in the first half. Bayern let themselves get pushed into the back and were maybe even a bit scared of us.”
Though Leverkusen created enough chances to win the match, it would be hard to argue that the reigning champions were afraid of the Werkself. The champions had enough chances to win the game themselves, and were doing so till the 93rd minute, when Jonas Hofmann won Leverkusen a soft penalty. After Exequiel Palacios converted the penalty to make the scores level, Bayern would perhaps have realised that they have a battle on their hands to hold on to their title.
Bayern midfielder Konrad Laimer agreed he could not argue with the result. “It was a fair result on the balance of play, but of course we wanted all three points. Leverkusen are a top side with really good individuals and a good game plan,” he said.
VFB STUTTGART VS BAYER LEVERKUSEN
Date: December 10, 2023
Result: VFB Stuttgart 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Stuttgart, a revelation this year, have been especially strong at home this season, losing only once at the MHPArena, a 2-3 defeat to Hoffenheim in October. The only other instance when they dropped points at home was against Leverkusen. A passive Leverkusen were almost overwhelmed by Stuttgart before the break, and it was largely down to Hradecky that they were only a goal down at half-time.
In the second half, however, the Werkself pressed and counter-pressed the Schwaben aggressively, and were guilty of wasting chances that could have won the tie. Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka and Victor Boniface exploited the space given by Stuttgart in the second half to create opportunities, while Jeremie Frimpong was culpable of glaring misses in front of goal.
“I’m very proud of this draw,” said Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeness. “In the first half we didn’t manage to make it a better scoreline than 1-0. We wanted to put Leverkusen under pressure, and we did that. We created more chances than they did. Their goal hurt us. That’s when we started to feel the strain of the intensive midweek game (a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the DFB Pokal), and we suffered. By sticking together and with the little bit of luck we earned for ourselves, we managed to see the result over the line.”
LEVERKUSEN VS THE REST OF THE BUNDESLIGA
Xabi Alonso cupped his head in his hands at the Allianz Arena. He was lying on his back, and Portuguese referee Pedro Proenca walked over to him with a card in his hand. Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos walked alongside, trying to cajole him into forgiving the infraction. With Madrid leading the 2013-14 Champions League semifinal 3-0 (and 4-0 on aggregate) in the 37th minute of the match, Alonso had made an unnecessarily harsh challenge on Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. Despite Ramos’ pleading, Proenca was firm that Alonso had to pay for his mistake. The Spanish metronome was shown a yellow card and was ruled out of the 2014 Champions League final.
Once Real Madrid had won the Champions League final against Atletico Madrid, Alonso packed his bags – and headed straight back to the Allianz Arena.
“I was so curious to find out (Guardiola’s) secrets,” Alonso later told The Athletic about his decision to join Bayern when Pep Guardiola was in charge of the German giants.
“He has a relentless natural enthusiasm. Football seasons are long but right until the very end, Pep never seemed to be tired. He was alert, always ready. For the players, maybe this gave us an extra few metres in our legs when it mattered most.”
Alonso spent 3 years at Bayern before retiring as a player, 2 of those coming under Guardiola. Alonso’s Leverkusen are proof that the former Liverpool midfielder has learnt well.
Leverkusen’s pressing, and especially their work once the ball is lost, bears striking similarities to Guardiola’s teams. Rapid transition from defence to attack – aided by a young starting 11 with an average age of 26.2 – has made the Werkself an extremely difficult opponent to face.
In their 13 league matches against the rest of the Bundesliga so far, Leverkusen have faced little resistance. The handful of matches they found themselves in a spot in, they have found a way to claim 3 points. Against Wolfsburg away in October, the Werkself took an early lead and should have increased it but conceded an equaliser just before the break. However, Alonso’s men battled back to score the winner just past the hour and held on to close out the match.
A dominant Leverkusen dropped 2 points against Dortmund at home in December, but the Werkself had had to contend with visitors who sat back and waited for the opposition to launch counter-attacks. The draw with Dortmund was the only instance when Leverkusen have failed to win at home this season.
The Werkself’s sternest examination came away at Hoffenheim in November, when the league leaders raced to a 2-goal lead before the break before sloppy defending allowed Hoffenheim to score twice in the second half. However, wing-back Alex Grimaldo scored a well-taken goal from inside the Hoffenheim penalty box midway into the second half to give Leverkusen the victory.
“That was a very important win for us today,” Alonso said about the victory at Hoffenheim. “We had good control of the first half, but then we conceded two goals in the space of a few minutes in the second. It was important to respond to them drawing level at 2-2. We weren’t fragile, we showed a good mentality.”
Midfielder Anton Stach, who scored for Hoffenheim during the match, observed, “Leverkusen have incredible quality, they transform individual actions into exceptional results. It was an individual action that decided the game.”
A HANDFUL OF GAME-CHANGERS
For a club not among the heavyweights of European football, Leverkusen have an unusual number of players who can single-handedly alter the course of games. Foremost among them is Florian Wirtz, at 20 already in his fourth season in the Bundesliga and the creative shaman of the Werkself.
Geniuses have a reputation of being difficult to work with and being oblivious to the difficulties mere mortals face in their everyday lives. Wirtz, however, works as hard as anyone in the team despite being talented enough to try and coast through games on the back of his offensive work.
The attacking midfielder has an enviable ability to dribble past opponents, thread through balls behind defences when marked closely, and finish chances even when they crop up unexpectedly. He has also developed a good on-field understanding with summer signings Boniface, Hofmann and Grimaldo, all of whom combine in the final third to make the Werkself a daunting opposition to face.
“This guy is a magician,” Boniface told the Obi One podcast about Wertz earlier this season. “We are not surprised by what he is doing in the game because in training it’s crazy. When he’s with the ball nobody wants to mark him.”
Boniface himself is a formidable presence on the field, a mixture of devastating physicality and silky-smooth touch in the final third. The Nigerian already has 17 goals and 8 assists to his name this season, and the €20 million Leverkusen paid Union Berlin for him last summer looks astonishingly good business.
Hofmann is another new signing, brought in last summer from Borussia Monchengladbach after the departure of Moussa Diaby to Aston Villa. The 31-year-old has compensated for Diaby’s absence with goals and assists (7 goals and 6 assists so far), while his defensive contribution has arguably made the Werkself even stronger this season.
Grimaldo (9 goals, 6 assists), a free transfer from Benfica, has emerged as a significant goal threat capable of scoring from both free-kicks and open play. The Spanish wing-back is a crucial component of Leverkusen’s offensive plan, patrolling the left flank and breaking freely into the opposition box when the situation warrants it.
Holland international Jeremie Frimpong (7 goals, 9 assists) is a lively presence on the right wing, capable of beating his marker and setting up Boniface & co. in the middle. However, the 23-year-old has a habit of wasting clear scoring opportunities when they present themselves.
A MIXTURE OF YOUTH AND EXPERIENCE
Granit Xhaka left Arsenal last summer to join Leverkusen in search of a “new challenge,” and he has certainly thrived at his new club. Along with the 34-year-old Lukas Hradecky and 31-year-old Hofmann, the 31-year-old Xhaka is one of only three 30-plus players who regularly feature in the Leverkusen first 11. Alonso has given Xhaka freedom to venture into the final third of the pitch, which has seen the Switzerland captain use his underrated vision to make several key passes that have led to goals.
In fact, Xhaka’s offensive contribution has been so outstanding that he ranks first in the Bundesliga with 173 passes into the final third of the pitch so far (the second is another Leverkusen midfielder, Exequiel Palacios, with 118 passes). Among the Big Five leagues of Europe, Xhaka has only Rodri (184 passes, Manchester City) and Aleix Garcia (176 passes, Girona) ahead of him.
Leverkusen and Finland captain Hradecky has been in splendid form for the Werkself in goal this season, bailing out his team with crucial saves whenever their young defence has been caught unawares by the opposition. Some times, like against VFB Stuttgart during the first half, the 34-year-old has kept Leverkusen in the game single-handedly before his teammates pulled themselves together.
SO, CAN LEVERKUSEN WIN THE BUNDESLIGA?
Leverkusen’s form, the ease with which their players find each other on the pitch, and the nature of their victories so far – a self-assured superiority when facing lesser teams, an unrelenting fighting spirit when playing title contenders – mark them out as the real deal. To add to this, they play marvellous football, which makes them the favourite of most neutrals.
However, two factors could adversely affect the Werkself’s chances:
- The injury to Victor Boniface and
- The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) at Ivory Coast
Boniface, who has proved a nightmare for opposition defenders coming up against him, will be sidelined until April after picking up a groin injury while on international duty with Nigeria for the AFCON. As the AFCON runs from January 13 to February 11, 2024, Leverkusen had expected to be without Boniface till February at best, but now have to rely more on Patrick Schick, who himself has just returned from a major injury. (Leverkusen’s reliance on Boniface was exposed on January 13, when they needed a 94th minute winner from Exequiel Palacios to beat Augsburg. Schick, who started the game, looked a poor replacement for Boniface’s physicality and ball skills).
The AFCON will also deprive Leverkusen of 2 of their 3 first-choice defenders, Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso) and Odilon Kossounou (Ivory Coast). Amine Adli (Morocco), a winger and squad player, will also be at the tournament.
Tapsoba and Kossounou in particular will be sorely missed, as they have formed a rock-solid 3-man defence along with German international Jonathan Tah so far. “We trust our teammates and everyone’s working hard,” said Tapsoba in December about the effect the AFCON might have on Leverkusen.
“You can see the coach is trying to mix the line-up every game and I think everybody’s going to take his chance. So we won’t worry so much about that.”
Alonso himself was upbeat as well. “We are losing some players but we have seen that all our players can play,” he said last month. “I’m not crying and I’m not a victim. We have enough players,” he said.
Leverkusen have never won the Bundesliga, finishing as runner-up 5 times. The most famous of their second-place finishes was during the 2001-02 season, when the Werkself were in a position to win an unprecedented treble of the Bundesliga, the UEFA Champions League as well as the DFB Pokal. However, Leverkusen finished the season empty-handed, losing the Bundesliga to Borussia Dortmund, the Champions League to Real Madrid and the DFB Pokal to Schalke. The collapse led to further burnishing of their unfortunate moniker, ‘Neverkusen.’
Turkish attacking midfielder Yildiray Basturk was a crucial part of the 2001/02 team. Looking back at that historic season, Basturk once told Bayer Leverkusen’s official website, “If I look at our team back then, then it was really the case that our first 12 or 13 players were amongst the best in Europe. And the lads also got on really well together. All of them had their feet on the ground, everybody helped out and nobody was above doing the hard work on the pitch. That was what singled us out.”
With a galaxy of some of Europe’s best players in its ranks, the current Leverkusen team can also claim to be home to a collection of similar talent. If Alonso’s men can overcome the curve balls that a long season can fling at teams over the course of 10 months, they will rightfully lay claim to footballing immortality.