Bayer Leverkusen: new champions
Bayer Leverkusen made history on Sunday, becoming Bundesliga champions for the first time in the club’s 120-year existence.
They clinched the title with five league games still to play, dismantling Werder Bremen 5-0 on a perfect afternoon in Leverkusen.
The party started on the 25-minute mark when Nigerian striker Victor Boniface opened the scoring from the penalty spot.
Granit Xhaka then doubled the lead in the 60th minute with a wonder strike from distance befitting a title-clinching game.
The icing on the Bayer Leverkusen cake
The fairytale storyline was then completed by Florian Wirtz.
The German attacking midfielder, who missed nine months of football due to an ACL injury, entered the game at halftime.
He then proceeded to score a beautiful hat-trick, sending the BayArena into raptures.
Fans, who stormed the pitch as Wirtz celebrated his third goal, had to be removed for the game to finish.
A power shift
Leverkusen’s success was also a victory for German football, as it ended Bayern Munich’s run of 10 consecutive Bundesliga titles.
Incredibly enough, the German champions remain undefeated across all competitions after nine months.
They are in the Europa League quarter-final against West Ham, going into the second leg with a 2-0 lead.
Additionally, they have the German Cup final to look forward to on May 25th.
While it may not include the Champions League, Bayer Leverkusen are on the cusp of securing an iconic treble.
The new genius on the block
Part of what makes Leverkusen’s season so remarkable is their manager, Xabi Alonso.
It’s easy to forget based on their form that this is his first full season as a top flight manager.
He has long won the hearts of the Leverkusen fanbase with the style of football that his team is playing.
Rumours began a couple of months ago that he might leave at the end of the season for Liverpool or German powerhouse Bayern Munich, and he instead committed his future to Leverkusen.
He has already led them to the promise land, and he is on the verge of an invincible, treble-winning season.
It would be a feat that has never been achieved in football history.
Inspiration for the Premier League
There is a tone of irony beneath this Bayer Leverkusen triumph.
For years, Premier League fans have referred to leagues like the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 as ‘farmers leagues’, referring to the low level of competition and prolonged dominance from particular teams.
Now though, the roles are on the verge of being reversed.
Manchester City now sits alone atop the Premier League table, and they have the opportunity to become the first team in English history to win four consecutive league titles.
The ‘farmers league’ label that was thrown around by fans of English football for so long is now only a few weeks away from applying to the Premier League.
Bayer Leverkusen’s success in breaking from the status quo should be seen as an inspiration for English clubs looking to take down the machine that is Manchester City.
