Bayer Leverkusen players pour beer on coach Xabi Alonso during a press conference after winning the Bundesliga title
As Xabi Alonso led Bayer Leverkusen to its first Bundesliga triumph on Sunday, his teammates showered him with beer.
Leverkusen defeated Werder Bremen 5-0 to secure the German league title. With five games left, the club led second-place Bayern Munich by 16 points.
It's quite the accomplishment to unseat Bayern Munich, the nation's most successful soccer side for decades and the Bundesliga champions for the previous 11 seasons.
Leverkusen has won its first title since 1993 and gone 43 games undefeated in all competitions this season, thanks to their prolific scorers, thrilling comebacks, and standout players.
Inside the sold-out BayArena stadium, the historic event caused joyous scenes as spectators rushed onto the field to join players in celebrating. The celebration was led by Alonso.
This season, we wanted to play games with a positive mindset, and the players immediately began collaborating effectively. We noticed after the first few games that this club can play extremely good football," Alonso reportedly told reporters following the game, according to Reuters.
But it took a stellar performance to pull things off in this manner. In conclusion, it is a privilege to declare that Leverkusen are champions. It is well deserved by the group, supporters, and club.
Leverkusen was in terrible shape when Alonso joined in October 2022, so the team's incredible run to the league seemed out of the blue.
It was in disarray and ranked second bottom in the Bundesliga. However, in just 18 months, Alonso has completely transformed the team, making it a title-winning squad through his smart acquisitions and possession-based style of play.
Granit Xhaka, the captain of Switzerland, Alejandro Grimaldo, the defender, and Victor Boniface, the forward, signed in the summer and were crucial to the team's victory.
Nigerian striker Boniface has been a menace in attack, Grimaldo has supplied goals and assists from left back, and Xhaka has led from the middle.
On Sunday, Leverkusen easily won the championship thanks to goals from Xhaka and Boniface, followed by a hat-trick from Florian Wirtz.
It brings an incredible season to an end and helps to some extent drive out the negative forces that have long dogged the team.
The team's tendency to lose heartbreakingly in cup finals and blow league leads has earned them the nickname "Neverkusen."
Due to his remarkable impact, Alonso has drawn interest from other elite teams in Europe, like Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and Real Madrid. However, he declared last month that he will be staying with Leverkusen for the upcoming campaign.
With the second leg of their Europa League quarterfinal matchup against West Ham to be played on Thursday, Leverkusen is also ahead by two goals and may have even greater success ahead of them.
"We were thinking that we could win this year, but we didn't discuss the title much in the changing room," Alonso remarked. "We have to now savor the present. The season is still ongoing, but it has already been extremely intense. It is something we cannot overlook.
"We've moved past this, and we still have big goals for this season."
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