Germany Coach Xabi Alonso's team defeated Werder Bremen 5-0 in round 29 on the evening of April 14, thereby winning the Bundesliga five rounds early.
Before the match against Bremen, Leverkusen is 13 points ahead of second-placed Bayern and has played one game less. Coach Alonso's team must win if they want to win the Bundesliga soon.
Alonso made a surprising seven changes to the starting line-up in the 2-0 Europa League quarter-final first leg win over West Ham in midweek. The rested players included Florian Wirtz, who has scored 14 goals and provided 18 assists in 40 games in all competitions. His heavy-handed approach to keeping players on the pitch suggests that Alonso may be diverting his resources to the Europa League and the German Cup final, rather than beating Bremen at all costs.
Despite lacking many key players, Leverkusen still played better. In the 8th minute, goalkeeper Michael Zetterer had to save Bremen after a combination shot between Nathan Tella and Piero Hincapie.
Boniface (right) celebrates scoring in Leverkusen's 5-0 win over Bremen in round 29 of the Bundesliga on the evening of April 14 at BayArena. Photo: Bundesliga
After the missed opportunity, the leading team continued to find a way into the penalty area. Under constant pressure, Bremen made a mistake and conceded a goal in the 25th minute. After Tella's right-wing cross, Jonas Hofmann tried to rush in to cushion the ball but was fouled from behind by Julian Malatini. Victor Boniface accurately scored the penalty to open the scoring for Leverkusen. The Nigerian striker increased his record in all competitions since the beginning of the season to 18 goals and nine assists in 27 matches. His record could have been better if he had not played in the African Championship and suffered an injury.
Leverkusen continued to control the game after the opening goal. In the 38th minute, they could have doubled the lead if they had taken advantage of one of two consecutive chances. Tella passed to Hofmann to shoot, forcing Milos Veljkovic to clear the ball on the goal line, before Hofmann passed to Amine Adli who hit the crossbar.
Bremen had to wait until the 45+2 minute to find a way into the home team's penalty area. However, goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky easily cleared the shot.
After the break, coach Alonso brought on Wirtz to replace Adli. With their best player of the season, Leverkusen continued to press the pitch and look for opportunities. In the 60th minute, after receiving a back pass from Boniface, Granit Xhaka shot from 24 meters to increase the score to 2-0.
Xhaka (center) celebrates after doubling the gap in Leverkusen's 5-0 win over Bremen in round 29 of the Bundesliga on the evening of April 14 at BayArena. Photo: Bundesliga
The rest of the action added to Leversuken's joy, with Wirtz's first career hat-trick being the highlight. The 20-year-old fired into the top corner in the 68th minute, followed up with a Palacios assist in the 83rd, before slotting the ball into the top corner of the net after a pass from the left wing by Alex Grimaldo in the 90th.
After the big win, Leverkusen reached 79 points after 29 rounds. With a 16-point gap, Bayern could not catch up and had to end 11 years of domination of Germany's top league.
Leverkusen won the Bundesliga for the first time. They had previously finished second in 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2001-02 and 2010-11. Leverkusen's other two titles were the 1987-88 UEFA Cup and the 1992-93 German Cup.
Alonso also won his first trophy as a coach in his first full season in charge of Leverkusen. Last season, he replaced Gerardo Seoane in October 2022, before guiding the team from relegation danger to sixth place in the Bundesliga.
Thanh Quy
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