Bundesliga review: If Leverkusen seems Spanish to you – that’s intentional

Xabi Alonso’s team doesn’t look like a German team at all. That is a compliment. And Thomas Tuchel is thinking about rule reforms. The 21st matchday

Speaker Listen to article There can only be one winner: Xabi Alonso and Thomas Tuchel. © picture alliance/​dpa | Federico Gambarini/​dpa

Fair weather fans for Leverkusen!

Leverkusen against Munich. After Bayer’s masterful 3-0 win, which further enlivened the carnival in Leverkusen and caused shocks in Munich, everyone is full of praise for the Werkself. Not atypically, we’re talking about mentality. Passion, duels and intensity, the classic elements of German football, are actually present. But Leverkusen is influenced internationally. After the game, Xabi Alonso highlighted how his team controlled the game without the ball. This corresponds to José Mourinho’s style, under which Alonso trained as a player. But they also communicate with each other with passes – according to Pep Guardiola, another of Alonso’s former coaches.