Spaniard Xavi Alonso, the former Liverpool and Real Madrid star and current German coach of Leverkusen, proved on Sunday that he is better than his compatriot Mikel Arteta, the English coach of Arsenal, when he celebrated the Bundesliga title while Arteta lost the lead in the English Premier League.
Alonso also succeeded in erasing the title “neverkusen”, which means “semi-men”, which stuck to Leverkusen after they failed to win the title in a dramatic way at the end of the 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 seasons.
Leverkusen was always the bridesmaid, not the bride, until Alonso (42 years old) came to the club’s doors in October 2022 and moved it from the bottom of the table to sixth place last season, then won the club’s first title after 43 matches without defeat this season.
Leverkusen fans raised a banner thanking Alonso in gratitude for the title and for confirming his stay with the team next season. They also raised a banner deleting the “semi-men” title that was attached to the team and confirming the “men’s” title. The dream now will be the Europa League title this season and perhaps the European title next season. A source commented: “Leverkusen “It was like Dortmund, a team to develop players to play for Bayern Munich in the future, but Alonso changed the equation.” Competing with Bayern Munich financially was not easy for Leverkusen, but Alonso and his staff concluded deals that were important for the team, such as the Swiss star Granit Xhaka, who came from Arsenal after 7 years, the Spanish free full-back Alex Grimaldo (28 years old) from Benfica of Portugal, and the other Brazilian full-back Arthur (20 years old) from America. MG, Jonas Hoffmann (31 years old) for 8.5 million pounds from Mönchengladbach, Nigerian Victor Boniface, top scorer in the Europa League last season with 6 goals from Union, and Colombian midfielder Gustavo Puerta (20 years old) who joined the team in January 2023, then Alonso loaned him to Nuremberg and brought him back this season. . The pitch played an important role in the success of Leverkusen’s season, and Alonso, who receives a salary of 5 million pounds annually, paid great attention to it, but despite the club’s request that fans not come out after beating Cologne and winning the title on Sunday, everyone came out to celebrate the league title and eagerly await the historic hat-trick.
The eyes of European clubs are closely watching Alonso’s squad, the most prominent of whom is the promising Florian Fritz (20 years old), who scored a hat-trick in the match that won the title on Sunday. The club is known for selling its talents, such as Kai Havertz, the current Arsenal and former Chelsea player, and Son Heung-min, the English Tottenham star, but Leverkusen is asking for more than 100 million pounds to give up its star Fritz, and there is a release clause of 34 million pounds for full-back Jeremy Frimpong (23 years old).
A picture of Alonso spread next to his Basque compatriot Arteta at the Antigoco Junior Club at the age of ten, and their coach Roberto Moncel is proud of their graduation from his team. The club’s current vice president said: Mikel Arteta always played in teams older than his age and showed great maturity and we quickly knew that he would be a star in the future. The best player I ever had on the team was better than Alonso, and I think he thought about coaching long after he retired, as Alonso did, as he watched me train other groups of players and suggested changes to improve the results. Xavi Alonso was skinny and his muscles did not develop until the age of 17. He was not one of those who talked a lot and shouted. He says a few words enough to make others understand. He was respected by everyone and our club earned a good sum when Real Ciudad sold him to Real Madrid in 2004. I think our club, which also left Andoni Araola (English Bournemouth coach), is special in its culture of never giving up, it is a school of life.