Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen end Bayern Munich's 11-year dominance by clinching their first Bundesliga title
Apr 15, 2024
Leverkusen [Germany], April 15 : Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen won the first Bundesliga title and ended Bayern Munich's 11-year reign as champion following their 5-0 win over Werder Bremen.
With their 5-0 win, Leverkusen went 16 points clear of second-placed Bayern Munich and took an unassailable lead with still five games to play.
After ending Bayern Munich's 11 Bundesliga titles reign, Leverkusen lifted their first title since their German Cup triumph in 1993.
Alonso's side is yet to be beaten in the ongoing season as they cruise towards the historic treble. As of now, Leverkusen hold a 2-0 advantage over West Ham after their first-leg triumph in the Europa League. They also have an opportunity for another title as they will face second-division Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final.
With the 5-0 win over Werder Bremen, Alonso's side extended their unbeaten streak to 43 matches.
The 5-0 victory marked Florian Wirtz's first senior hat-trick of his career. Victor Boniface broke the stalemate by netting the ball from the spot after Jonas Hofmann got fouled in the box.
Granit Xhaka made it 2-0 with his delightful left-foot strike from 25 yards to find the back of the net.
Wirtz was introduced in the second half and struck his first goal of the night from a similar distance as his compatriot Xhaka did.
He struck his second in the 83rd minute of the game, which led to a brief pitch invasion. In the final moments of the game, Wirtz struck his third goal with a clinical finish, which triggered yet another pitch invasion.
After the game, club captain Xhaka hailed Alonso's influence on the team and said, as quoted from Sky Sports, "First, he (Alonso) is an unbelievable coach. Second, he is an unbelievable person, but I think even the board is giving him a lot of confidence. But the work we are putting in with him day-by-day--the ideas, the hunger, the mentality--everything comes from him and us together."
"I think after this, we deserve maybe more than just the league. We have some more games to play and we want more than that now," he added.
Alonso's Leverkusen will return to action in the second leg of the UEFA Europa League quarterfinals against West Ham United on Thursday.
