100 times Xabi Alonso: the hundred games that have changed the history of Bayer Leverkusen

The match played by Bayer Leverkusen this Saturday before the Holstein Kiel in it BayArena had a double incentive: the first, to try to put pressure on the Bayern Munich in the fight for the leadership of the Bundesliga; the second, that his coach, the Spanish Xabi Alonsowill face his hundredth match since he sits on the bench of the current champion. One thing went wrong, as Bayer was not able to overcome its rival and ended up tying (2-2), but Xabi got his ovation.

One hundred games that have changed the history of a club that was always haunted by an aura of losing and doomed to final misfortune, which the Basque coach has totally transformed.

After being urgently recruited when the team was sailing to the drifts into the Bundesligain which he flirted with relegation, Alonso, who had already achieved a feat by ascending to Real Sociedad subsidiary to the Second Division Spanish for the first time in almost sixty years, took the reins of a sinking ship, refloated it and placed it on a par with the best and most sophisticated aircraft carriers.

The beginning of the adventure

His first game at the helm of the ship, on October 8, 2022, was already premonitory. 4-0 against Schalke to begin laying the foundations for the new era. Just a few weeks later, it was already ringing the first of its many bells.

Three weeks later, in a dramatic duel for the survival in the Champions LeagueBayer Leverkusen stood in the Metropolitan Stadiumdrew a two-goal draw against the Atlético de Madridwith a missed penalty by the Spanish team in the 99th minute included, and dislodged Diego Simeone’s team from the Champions League.

Leverkusen would eventually qualify for the Europa League in which, while reversing its disastrous start to the Bundesliga campaign – they finished sixth after taking charge of a team that was seventeenth -, they reached the semi-finals, in which they were defeated for him Roma from one of his teachers, the Portuguese José Mourinho.

The end of Xabi Alonso’s first season at the helm of Bayer already left very good feelings, but they came to nothing compared to what happened the following season.

The progress

After having a sensational start to the season, with eleven wins in the first twelve games of the last Bundesliga, Alonso’s team sent a very clear message: This year yes.

Everlasting victim of tragic fatalities that prevented it from having a track record comparable to the greats of German football (only two titles in its entire history until 2023 and thirty years since the last one), the team of the pharmaceutical company marched firmly in its assault on greatness in Germany to shed the infamous label of ‘Don’t cry‘.

Xabi Alonso put together a solid and recognizable block, with three firm centre-backs, two deep wingers, a midfield that was as consistent as it was functional and some incisive and pressing forwards.

In this way he catapulted the career of the emerging Florian Wirtz, Alejandro Grimaldo or Jeremie Frimpongat the same time that he relaunched that of players at the full age of football maturity but who had never reached the level expected of them, such as the Argentine midfielder Exequiel Palacios or the center Jonathan Tah.

The ship maintained its course unchanged, marking ground on its rivals that they could no longer recover. The paradigm of his unstoppable journey, the resounding 3-0 that he endorsed against Bayern Munich at Bay Arena on February 10.

The Spanish coach’s team continued to play matches without losing, both in national competitions and in Europe, in some of which he already showed signs of what has been another of his main weapons: his unwavering faith to win matches that he had apparently lost.

This is the only way to explain miracles like those performed before Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund, Qaraba, West Ham or Romawhich put ‘Die Werkself’ on the ropes and against whom, in one way or another, they ended up finding the solution to win on the horn or force an unexpected draw.

The culmination

He April 14the ship arrived at the promised land. After 29 days, Bayer Leverkusen sent for 5-0 against Werder Bremen to win the Bundesliga, the first in its history. The one that had slipped through his fingers so many times in so many unfortunate ways.

Xabi Alonso immortalized his name forever in the memory of the black and red club, which has just turned 120 yearsand was crowned one of the most transcendental characters in the history of Leverkusen.

For dessert, he had time to serve a German Cupwon against Kaiserslautern at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, and rounded off an unforgettable season in which they went 51 games unbeaten.

His only blemish, the duel that precisely cost him such an amazing streak: the defeat against Atalanta in the Europa League final played in Dublin by a resounding 3-0.

The new season brought with it one more title, the German Super Cupwon on penalties against Stuttgart, whom they also tied when the game was dying.

The new objectives

This new season, his third at the helm of Leverkusen, to which he was faithful when Liverpool y Bayern Munich longed to acquire their services, the team has the challenge of expanding the feat.

Their start has left some doubts, with a surprising defeat at home against Leipzig as its most disturbing moment, but its performance continues to maintain a certain regularity that allows it to closely follow the lead in the league – it has Bayern just three points behind – and which it has transferred, with even more exuberance if possible, to the Champions League.

Their revival in the top continental competition ended with a resounding victory by 0-4 against Feyenoord and had its extension this same week, in which they beat the seven-time champion at home 1-0 Milan.

Now, Alonso reaches his centenary with a club that he has positioned among the best on the continentwith a fan that feels authentic devotion for his figure and with whom he aspires to maintain a journey as magical as it is successful.

The numbers say that at the head of Leverkusen he has achieved 66 wins, 21 draws and 12 losses. If you ask its leaders, what it has achieved is to change its history.

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