Bayer Leverkusen has completed the impossible. They are one of the most unluckiest clubs in football history. In one hundred twenty years of existence, including forty five consecutive Bundesliga (German football league) appearances, Bayer Leverkusen has never managed to win a league title. Five second place wins in the Bundesliga, three league cup finals that they lost and also the UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Champions League final. Ever since then they have had to live with the nickname “Neverkusen” or in Germany “Vizekusen (runner-ups).” When Xabi Alonso took over his first ever professional club in October 2022, Leverkusen were on the brink of relegation. He created a whole new philosophy, fully transforming this football club. The “Werkself” as they are known are still unbeaten in all competitions, forty three matches. And their last one was the most emotional, after beating Werder Bremen 5-0, they mathematically sealed their first ever Bundesliga title in their history, ending Bayern Munich’s eleven year dominance in the league. Students have their take on what is now being dubbed, the “Cinderella club of Europe.”
As mentioned before, Bayer Leverkusen have been on a historic forty three win streak across all competitions. Aside from the Bundesliga title, they have reached the UEFA Europa League Semi-Finals against Italian side AS Roma after beating English side West Ham United three to one on aggregate. They also reached the final in the DFB Pokal, Germany’s league cup, after beating Dusseldorf 4-0. Their win streak is the longest ever achieved in German football history.
“I think that their unbeaten run is the best feat that I have ever seen in any football club. It’s not easy going unbeaten all these months and winning the Bundesliga along with it,” junior Usman Ghani said.
Xabi Alonso before he became a manager, played for Real Madrid, Real Sociedad, Liverpool and Bayern Munich. He first managed Real Madrid’s Infantil A squad, before going to Real Sociedad’s B squad. He then went straight to Bayer Leverkusen 04 and started doing wonders to the team. He started to fix the team from the bottom up, putting more influence on player performance, and overall team chemistry.
“Xabi Alonso was probably the guy that did the most to the team. He started to sign better players for cheap and overall making the team unbeatable in Europe,” junior Abdullah Khan said.
Alonso has also changed the team by signing more promising prospects. Leverkusen before Alonso used to sell their better players to bigger clubs in order to make a profit, a mindset that is also present in other clubs such as Benfica and Sporting Clube de Portugal. When Alonso took control of the club, he decided to end this mindset, and started to sign prospects from other clubs. These signings have been vital to the team. Alejandro Grimaldo from Benfica has scored nine goals and thirteen assists in just twenty nine appearances. Granit Xhaka from Arsenal and Jonas Hofmann from Borussia Monchengladbach have brought experience to an otherwise young midfield. Florian Wirtz has scored 11 goals and 10 assists in 29 Bundesliga appearances. And Viktor Boniface has shone in Leverkusen, bringing in 10 goals early in the season.
“Florian Wirtz has been really good on attack. He’s been scoring most of the goals for Leverkusen and has been an underrated player in Europe overall,” senior Connor Crossan said.
Bayer Leverkusen has finally achieved what they wanted. A Bundesliga after 120 years of getting close to the trophy. Now, they are in contention to win the Europa League, as well as the DFB Pokal this season. All there is to say about them is that Leverkusen have a very bright and hopeful future ahead of them.