Bayer Leverkusen’s long wait is over: The Werkself secured their first championship title in the German Bundesliga on Sunday evening with a 5-0 home win against Werder Bremen. After Bayern Munich won eleven titles in a row, there is once again another champion. Like third-placed VfB Stuttgart, the Munich team are 16 points behind first place with five rounds to go, with 15 points still up for grabs.
For Leverkusen it was victory number 38 in the 43rd competitive game of the season, there was no defeat yet. A team couldn’t be more deserving of being at the top. Victor Boniface scored the opening goal in the 25th minute with a foul penalty. It was the eleventh goal of the season for the 23-year-old Nigerian. Amine Adli was then unlucky when she hit the crossbar (38′). Bremen had one or two opportunities without the suspended defense chief Marco Friedl, who recently became a father for the first time, but with Romano Schmid in the starting line-up, but overall the team was too harmless.
The home team’s second goal was in the air several times before it finally fell after an hour. Granit Xhaka finally brought the atmosphere in the stadium to a boil with a long left-footed shot from Boniface. Afterwards, Florian Wirtz (68th, 83rd, 90th) also entered the shooting list three times. The first Leverkusen fans had already run onto the field after the fourth goal, and after the fifth there were a lot of them, whereupon the referee decided not to add additional time and blew the whistle.
Leverkusen’s masterpiece in the 29th round is the third earliest in league history. Only Bayern had brought about a decision twice earlier (27th and 28th round). The Leverkusen supporters had already welcomed their sixth-placed team last season when they arrived at the stadium with firecrackers, New Year’s Eve rockets and loud chants. After the final whistle, the wave of euphoria reached a new peak and the masses stormed the pitch. Many fans were already stocked up with unofficial championship paraphernalia such as T-shirts and caps, which were sold in large quantities before the game.
There were selfies, hugs and kisses in the crowd; many actors took some time to find their way into the catacombs. At that point at the latest, the official championship shirts could be put on. “It’s indescribable. I can’t even realize that personally. “You can’t imagine something like that,” said Wirtz. The nickname “Vizekusen”, which has stuck with the club since the beginning of this millennium, has now become “Meisterkusen”. Mainly thanks to coach Xabi Alonso, who finished the club 17th in the table on October 5, 2022. took over and finally formed into a top team this season.
“It is special for everyone to win the first championship, there is great joy. Maybe it’s also healthy for the Bundesliga and German football that someone else becomes champion again,” said the Spaniard. He still needs time to realize the first milestone of a still young coaching career. There was no ban on celebrating for his kickers, even though the quarter-final second leg of the Europa League is already waiting next Thursday. “Now is the moment to celebrate, they deserve it. Next week will be a different topic.”
In the European Cup, the Bayer team has a good chance of winning another title on paper, and they are even better in the DFB Cup final, a competition that Leverkusen last won in 1993. “We still have other big goals,” emphasized Alonso. The year 2024 could therefore go down in club history not only because of the premiere title in the league.
There was a scandal surrounding Naby Keita at Bremen before the game. The ex-Salzburger didn’t get on the bus for the away game after he found out he wouldn’t be able to play from the start. “We will talk to him and his advisor tomorrow about the consequences and how to proceed,” said Bremen’s football boss Clemens Fritz. In twelfth place, his team is five points ahead of the relegation place.
Darmstadt’s relegation is probably fixed
Bottom team Darmstadt is twelve points away from that. After a 0-1 home defeat against SC Freiburg and the fifth defeat in the last six rounds, the club has now gone 22 games without a win and will probably have to get used to going to the second division. This is also bad news for three ÖFB kickers. Christoph Klarer played through in central defense, Emir Karic was replaced in the 81st minute and Mathias Honsak was in action from the 68th minute.
Michael Gregoritsch recorded his fifth assist of the season for the winners. The Styrian, who celebrates his 30th birthday on Thursday, prepared Ritsu Doan’s only goal (36th) with a pass. The ÖFB team striker now has eleven scorer points, as he already has six goals to his name. Freiburg is in eighth place in the table.
2024-04-14 18:41:00
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