From oddball to favorite child: Bayer Leverkusen seduces German football

Bayer Leverkusen is suddenly the favorite child of German football. With impressive consistency, Xabi Alonso’s team is racing towards the small treble. But what actually makes this Werkself so special?

Suddenly Bayer 04 Leverkusen polarized. This has never happened in the recent history of German football. But that’s just how it is in this country, something always happens. 40 opponents (sometimes twice) in a row tried to defeat Xabi Alonso’s team, but no one succeeded. The last team to achieve this feat was VfL Bochum on the last matchday of last season. The first, very gentle calls for boring dominance are already being heard – and the hope for the end of the invincible. Greetings from FC Bayern!

Some opponents were close to breaking this unbelievable streak, very close in fact – and no one was closer than Azerbaijan’s top club Qarabağ Ağdam in the second leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League – but the Werkself took great pleasure in getting the drama on their side . History should not repeat itself, not like it did on May 20, 2000, when Bayer collapsed at SpVgg Unterhaching when Michael Ballack scored an own goal and FC Bayern went past in the final meters. And not like in 2002, when the club missed all three chances for the title in the last few meters, lost to Real Madrid and Zinédine Zidane in the Champions League final and wasted a five-point lead in the league on the last three matchdays. A process that is still unique to this day.

The fact that Leverkusen is so robust against all odds and opponents this season fascinates many people. For the moment you have fallen for Xabi Alonso, this polite super coach. They fell in love with the little magician Florian Wirtz, with the furious Jeremie Frimpong, with storm buff Victor Boniface, with the strengthened DFB defender Jonathan Tah, with Toni Kroos’ new bodyguard Robert Andrich and with the artistic shooter Alejandro Grimaldo. Yes, over the past few years and decades, Bayer has always stood for teams with a special playing culture. Not long ago there was the duo Julian Brandt and Kai Havertz who played wonderful football. Or the many Brazilians, starting with Tita in 1987, or later Paulo Sérgio, Emerson, Zé Roberto, Lúcio and Bernd Schneider (just kidding!), who tricked in the 90s and early 2000s.

The Xabi Alonso factor

But there has probably never been a team like the current one in the history of the Werkself. This team has grown over several transfer periods. The club was also able to exploit its competitive advantage after the Corona period. With the group behind us, the strains of the pandemic could be endured better than at some other Bundesliga locations. But the grand narrative of this team is different. That of Alonso and that of a remarkable scouting. The coach, who took over the team in October 2022 during the relegation battle, gave them a rousing game idea and shaped them into a super team in such a short time that Europe’s elite fought over the coach. FC Bayern, also Liverpool FC. And in the future also Real Madrid, where Carlo Ancelotti still wants to continue and is vulnerable. But the coach remains loyal to Bayer – at least next season.

And the Alonso factor, who was a big player in world football, should not be underestimated. Not for the development of the team. Not as an anchor for the players of the current squad and their future. And not as a magnet for potential newcomers. Alonso was a conductor at Real Madrid, Liverpool FC and also FC Bayern. Everywhere they speak well of the charismatic and empathetic Spaniard, who is increasingly preparing to cast his work on the pitch on the sidelines in gold (or silver, because the bowl is silver). He created this monster that eats its way through all competitions voraciously and can actually dream of a small treble (with the Europa League instead of the Champions League).

And how it does that. After the furious victory in the DFB Cup semi-final against Fortuna Düsseldorf (4-0), the players rushed into the corner and celebrated with their fans in the pyrotechnics. The Werkself had rarely delivered such emotional images into the country’s living rooms. Since Wednesday, Fortuna’s coach Daniel Thioune has been one of those raving about it: “Our journey ends at the BayArena adventure park. Welcome to reality. But anyone who has sat on a roller coaster like this will be happy to go back on again because it was really cool. ” And he’s also blown away by his coaching colleague: “He comes straight to me after the game and wishes me good luck and we’ll see each other again next year. He’s just reached the final, he could have climbed the fence. But That’s what defines this athlete, this person and this coach.”

The oddball from the A3

Another doer: Simon Rolfes, ex-player and now managing director of sports. He and his team are responsible for transfer policy, which has recently produced almost nothing but direct hits. Who would have thought that central midfielder Granit Xhaka would once again become the very best in his position? Who would have thought that Boniface would pulverize his strong season at Royale Union Saint-Gilloise? And if anyone had expected Grimaldo to conquer the world with his technical class and genius, would he really have ended up in Leverkusen? Or not with a giant in England or Spain?

The Bayer team is a little reminiscent of that of Borussia Dortmund at the beginning of the 2010s, which also interrupted FC Bayern’s rule at least in the short term with young talent and experienced leaders. Although the Ruhrpott giant is characterized by a completely different, much more gigantic emotionality. But what both stories also have in common: a coach who conquers the hearts of the club and far beyond. Bayer can also achieve what Borussia achieved back then and Dortmund were celebrated for. Namely, not to be a one-hit wonder. If the team largely stays together, which they believe in Leverkusen, and FC Bayern extends its search for meaning a little longer. Everything there is on the verge of change, a new coach is needed and a new team should be there.

Either way, Bayer Leverkusen’s transformation is impressive. For years, the majority of fans in this country didn’t care about the club. Real love, like at BVB, an unshakable community of suffering, like at FC Schalke, a euphoric passion, like at 1. FC Köln, or even a gigantic community like FC Bayern, the Werkself never stood for all of that. More for measly TV ratings for live games. It was an oddity, with the corporation in the background, with the stadium on the A3, which has a window facade on one side instead of a large grandstand and is squeezed into the flight paths of the metropolis of Cologne. And they, the Werkself, always remained the smallest of all the traditional giants on the Rhine emotionally and in terms of the fan scene – behind Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1. FC Köln and Fortuna Düsseldorf. The most emotional derbies on the big river take place elsewhere, without Bayer. The Werkself was an oddball, but one that was part of football socialization for the vast majority of people because the club had simply been playing in the Bundesliga since 1979 – across several generations of fans.

Bayer has guys that others don’t have

Unlike VfL Wolfsburg, TSG Hoffenheim and RB Leipzig, with whom so many football enthusiasts are still unfamiliar. Who stand for so many things that most fans reject. But Bayer stands out, perhaps because it has always been there. But possibly also because people shaped this club who were able to captivate the country. First of all, of course, is Reiner Calmund, the long-time manager who dug up the football jewels in Brazil and looted half of the GDR after reunification. Who delivered slogans on the assembly line and took on FC Bayern. There is Rudi Völler, the world champion, the plain-spoken speaker who always remained true to himself and earned great affection with his authenticity. But there is also Christoph Daum, the eternally controversial coach. The other corporate clubs (still) lack these personalities.

This season, however, the hearts of many people are actually going to the team. Because the Werkself plays exciting football, because they play games for the year in review – the cup quarter-finals against the phenomenally strong VfB from Stuttgart or the absurd Europa League round of 16 against Qarabağ Ağdam, which Patrik Schick beat in the second leg in the 93rd and 97th. minute moved to the Leverkusen side. You have to look for reliable material for a long time to argue against the current magic of this team. She has achieved a level of confidence that regularly leaves her opponents in awe.

But a lot of hearts are flying to her because she is suddenly actually suitable for fulfilling the longing beyond the record champion cosmos (and the Rhine rivals) for eleven years of title.“Tyranny” of FC Bayern to breastfeed.