Germany: Coach Xabi Alonso's team defeated Werder Bremen 5-0 in round 29 on the evening of April 14th, thus winning the Bundesliga title five rounds early.
Before their match against Bremen, Leverkusen were 13 points ahead of second-placed Bayern and had played one fewer game. Coach Alonso's team had to win if they wanted to secure the Bundesliga title early.
Alonso surprised everyone by making seven changes to the starting lineup from the Europa League quarter-final first leg win against West Ham 2-0 midweek. The list of rested players included Florian Wirtz, the striker who has scored 14 goals and provided 18 assists in 40 appearances across all competitions. This decision to rest players suggests Alonso may be balancing his squad for the Europa League and the German Cup final, rather than focusing on winning against Bremen at all costs.
Despite missing several key players, Leverkusen still dominated the game. In the 8th minute, goalkeeper Michael Zetterer had to make a save for Bremen after a combined shot between Nathan Tella and Piero Hincapie.
Boniface (right) celebrates a goal during Leverkusen's 5-0 victory over Bremen in the 29th round of the Bundesliga on April 14th at the BayArena. Photo: Bundesliga
After a missed opportunity, the leading team continued to look for ways into the penalty area. Under constant pressure, Bremen made a mistake and conceded a goal in the 25th minute. Following a cross from the right wing by Tella, Jonas Hofmann attempted to tap the ball in but was fouled from behind by Julian Malatini. Victor Boniface accurately converted the penalty to open the scoring for Leverkusen. The Nigerian striker increased his tally across all competitions this season to 18 goals and nine assists in 27 matches. His performance could have been even better if he hadn't returned to play in the African Cup of Nations and suffered an injury.
After opening the scoring, Leverkusen continued to control the game. In the 38th minute, they could have doubled their lead if they had capitalized on one of two consecutive opportunities. Tella passed to Hofmann, forcing Milos Veljkovic to clear the ball off the goal line, before Hofmann passed to Amine Adli, whose shot hit the crossbar.
Bremen had to wait until the 45th minute plus two seconds to find a way into the home team's penalty area. However, goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky easily thwarted the attempt.
After the break, coach Alonso brought Wirtz on to replace Adli. With their best player of the season on the pitch, Leverkusen continued to press and look for opportunities. In the 60th minute, after receiving a back pass from Boniface, Granit Xhaka shot from 24 meters to make it 2-0.
Xhaka (center) celebrates after scoring the second goal in Leverkusen's 5-0 victory over Bremen in the 29th round of the Bundesliga on April 14th at the BayArena. Photo: Bundesliga
The rest of the game added to Leversuken's joyous occasion, highlighted by Wirtz's first-ever hat-trick. The 20-year-old scored with a top-corner shot in the 68th minute, followed up on a Palacios assist in the 83rd minute, and then found the back of the net after a cross from the left wing by Alex Grimaldo in the 90th minute.
Following their emphatic victory, Leverkusen reached 79 points after 29 rounds. With a 16-point deficit, Bayern were unable to catch up and their 11-year dominance of Germany's top league came to an end.
Leverkusen won the Bundesliga for the first time. Prior to that, they finished second in five seasons: 1996-1997, 1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2001-2002, and 2010-2011. Two other titles Leverkusen won were the UEFA Cup in 1987-1988 and the German Cup in 1992-1993.
Alonso also won his first title as a coach in his first full season in charge of Leverkusen. Last season, he replaced Gerardo Seoane in October 2022, before leading the team from the brink of relegation to sixth place in the Bundesliga.
Thanh Quy
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