Leverkusen,
Sunday, 14 April, 2024
Former eternal bridesmaids Bayer Leverkusen finally took their vows as they sensationally won the Bundesliga title for the first time in their history, doing so with five matches still to play thanks to a 5-0 win over Werder Bremen.
Xabi Alonso’s side have ended Bayern Munich’s 11-year reign in style and now have the chance to become the first side to go unbeaten across a Bundesliga season.
Although winning just one of their final six matches would have been enough for Leverkusen, they wanted to make sure the title was wrapped up as early as possible in front of their own fans.
Nathan Tella was preferred to the rested Jeremie Frimpong, and he showed his credentials with a brilliant run and sweeping ball to the far post, where Piero Hincapie’s effort was thwarted by Michael Zetterer.
The visitors were more competitive than expected, but Tella continued to cause problems, and his dangerous cross provoked Julian Malatini to foul Jonas Hofmann in the area. Referee Harm Osmers pointed to the spot, and Victor Boniface thumped in a nerve-vanquishing opener.
With those initial anxieties out of the way, the BayArena crowd sprung into life, lauding their side’s every kick as they looked for more. A chaotic goalmouth scramble almost led to a second, before Amine Adli thundered against the bar after Hofmann’s searching ball.
Although the lead at the break was slender, the hosts headed into the tunnel knowing they were on course to become the 13th team to win the Bundesliga and write themselves into German football folklore.
Not free of relegation worries by any means, Bremen displayed their intent as proceedings got back underway, and chances were exchanged, but the title was all but sealed on the hour mark, when Granit Xhaka received the ball from Boniface all of 25 yards from goal and sent a whipping strike beyond the reach of Zetterer.
One-way traffic ensued from there, and Florian Wirtz – perhaps Leverkusen’s ‘Best Man’ on their way to tying down the Meisterschale – soon rocketed into the roof of the net from a similar distance.
The eager BayArena faithful surrounded the pitch and there was a brief invasion when Wirtz raced away to slot in a fourth, and with 30 seconds to go, he fired in his third to cap off a first-ever senior hat-trick, prompting pandemonium in celebration of a truly remarkable season for Alonso and Die Werkself.
Not only have the team so often known as ‘Neverkusen’ brought home the German top-flight title for the first time, but even more history potentially awaits in the form of an invincible campaign. With the DFB-Pokal and UEFA Europa League both also still up for grabs, more silverware may be on the horizon.