Leverkusen in Dortmund: Clear favorite in the duel for number two in the country

When local politicians are asked about the outcome of a legal dispute, in at least 98 cases out of a hundred they answer with a statement that has long since grown like a wart in the minds of the listeners. It reads: “In court and on the high seas, people are in God’s hands.” Alternatively, the formulation that this or that thing is “not subject to entertainment tax” may also be used, with the same sense of humor.

If you now look at the first Bundesliga game after the Christmas break, Xabi Alonso would have had an excellent opportunity to say one of the two phrases at the briefing on Thursday afternoon. Bayer Leverkusen’s head coach has to prepare his team for a Friday evening game against Borussia Dortmund in the famous Westphalian football palace after a break of almost three weeks from competition.

BVB’s preliminary season balance reveals what the support of 80,000 spectators means to the Dortmund players: 20 points were scored on their own turf and five on foreign soil. The home game factor is particularly magical under floodlights. Xabi Alonso still sees the task as a pleasure, he congratulates the DFL for choosing the right game to advertise on the global television markets for the return of the league: “The start is great,” he said, “a game in Dortmund is a great motivation and we are well prepared.” Not a word about the fact that he would prefer things to be a little easier.

Although the meeting between the two Western powers is not about being right, it can certainly be said to be a process, and the game may show how far it has already developed. In addition to three points, the negotiations are also about supremacy in the Bundesliga or, more precisely, the supremacy that the absolutist ruler FC Bayern leaves to the next most powerful deputy. Borussia has been able to enjoy the role of vice-regent in this country for a long time (although often enough they have had to suffer from it, but that is a different topic). Since last winning the championship in 2012, Dortmund have finished second in the final table seven times and third twice. Bayer 04, on the other hand: never second, twice third.

But whether the status of number two in the country – which gives BVB lucrative participation in the Club World Cup in June – still applies has been up for debate at least since Bayer Leverkusen’s double coup last summer. Some members of the industry even think that when comparing the status quo and the prospects in the player squad, it is no longer worth debating. Although BVB continues to attract more fans and more sales, Bayer has long been the second strongest leader in the league family’s sporting hierarchy thanks to efficient club management.

Leverkusen is in the mode that Xabi Alonso wants: mature, mature, serious and consistently successful

Even Oberborussia’s Hans-Joachim Watzke indirectly confirmed this when he was in Berlin at the turn of the year Sports picture described the situation of his club. The vice status was only secured by “making a big transfer every two or three years. If we didn’t do that, we wouldn’t have a chance at all. We have been playing above every limit of what is possible for ten years.” The sale of players like Ousmane Dembélé, Jadon Sancho, Christian Pulisic and Jude Bellingham repeatedly provided the Westphalian stock exchange club with new capital.

But where is the next big transfer hidden in the squad? “I have a few ideas,” Watzke remains vague. With left winger Jamie Gittens, 20, a young player has recently stood out, but his market value is far from the dimension in which the price for Leverkusen’s playmaker Florian Wirtz is. Bayer is currently working on extending the 21-year-old international’s contract in order to benefit twice from Wirtz: by the fact that he will play in Leverkusen for another year and by the fact that he will always be there if a move is foreseeable after the 2026 World Cup still brings the full return. Club boss Fernando Carro has already spoken publicly about a transfer fee of 120 or 130 million euros.

Bayer is currently seven points ahead of Borussia in the table. Borussia is fighting to take part in the Champions League, Bayer is fighting to defend its title, that is the state of things. Until the autumn, the Leverkusen team, somewhat too relaxed in their awareness of their championship glory, had given away a series of points to those in need in the league, from Bochum to Kiel, but in the end they reliably found their way into the mode that the still highly ambitious coach Alonso had set for the year after Wants to win the title: Mature, mature, serious and consistently successful, they performed in December; the 1-0 cup victory at FC Bayern set exemplary standards. “We are very happy to take Dortmund on the first match day,” said national player Robert Andrich a few days ago with fresh self-confidence, and that a single draw point was “almost not enough”. Words that promise a fun evening.