Bayer 04 Leverkusen broke FC Bayern Munich’s long-term dominance in the Bundesliga with the first championship title in the club’s history. The team of shooting star coach Xabi Alonso secured the first of three possible titles this season with a 5-0 (1-0) win against Werder Bremen on matchday 29 on Sunday. Previously, the record champions from Munich, who were weak this season, had become German champions eleven times in a row.
Five game days before the end of the season, FC Bayern are in second place, 16 points behind, tied on points with VfB Stuttgart. For Bayer, it is the first title in 31 years and the third overall, after winning the UEFA Cup in 1988 and the triumph in the DFB Cup in 1993.
This season, the factory club is the benchmark in German football and is on the way to a perfect season without a single competitive defeat and a possible three titles. The still undefeated Rhinelanders are also in the DFB Cup final against second division team 1. FC Kaiserslautern on May 25th. Leverkusen is also still well represented in the quarter-finals of the Europa League after winning 2-0 in the first leg against West Ham United. Because of the second leg on Thursday in London, there will be no official championship celebration.
The first team to be undefeated at this point
In the history of the Bundesliga, only Bayern have become champions twice faster than Leverkusen now: ten years ago on the 27th matchday and eleven years ago on the 28th matchday. With 79 points, Leverkusen set a points record after 29 match days and is also the first team to be undefeated in the league at this point.
With the first championship title in the club’s history, the club also sheds the stigma of being the eternal runner-up. At the beginning of the millennium, the term vicecuses became apparent through numerous second places in various competitions.
The title is also closely linked to the former world-class player Alonso, for whom the championship is also the first milestone in his young coaching career. The Basque had the wholly owned subsidiary of the ailing Bayer Group on October 5, 2022 as 17th in the table at the time. accepted. After initial difficulties, Alonso led Leverkusen into the Europa League and, thanks to successful transfers in the summer, finally turned them into a top team. Above all, the former Gladbach and Arsenal professional Granit Xhaka, the Spanish winger Alejandro Grimaldo and attacker Victor Boniface proved to be a direct hit.
bal DPA
