The party on the east side of the Rhine started yesterday and will last until the end of the season, Bayer Leverkusen is finally the champion, the club that was considered the biggest loser in the history of German football reached its first Bundesliga title in style - to remember.
"Pharmaceutics" with a "firecracker" (5:0) against Werder firmly embraced "Salatara" with both arms, and the victory that made the crowning official was the 43rd game of the season for Xabi Alonso's team and the 43rd that they finished without defeat.
There are many reasons why Bayer is finally the best, but also why it became the club that ended the 11-year reign of Bayern Munich.
Of course, the most important thing is the arrival of Xabi Alonso, and the Spanish "Marka" also brings the remaining 10 who made Bayer write a season for all time.
1. Stable project
By bringing in Fernando Carr as executive president and returning Simon Rolfs as sporting director in 2018, Bayer laid the foundations of a stable project.
2. Ćabijeva 3-4-2-1
Since his arrival, which happened in October 2022, when Leverkusen had only one win after eight rounds, Xabi Alonso remained faithful to his 3-4-2-1 formation.
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3. Undefeated
Bayer is the only team in Europe that is still undefeated - the boys from "Bay Arena" played 43 games and registered 38 wins and five draws.
4. Goal machine
The club from Leverkusen is the most efficient team in the five strongest leagues on the Old Continent - in 43 games of the Bundesliga, the German Cup and the Europa League, Victor Boniface, Florian Wirz and their friends scored 123 goals or 2,8 per game.
5. Steel defense
Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecki conceded the fewest goals in the Bundesliga - 19. The Finnish representative kept a clean sheet for his team in 15 out of 29 matches in the championship.
6. Hell's defenders
Alex Grimaldo on the left and Jeremy Frimpong on the right have been Bayer's attacking force this season - the Spaniard has 11 goals and 16 assists so far, and the Dutchman 12 goals and 11 assists.
7. Mentality
In 2024 alone, Bayer scored seven goals in stoppage time - against Leipzig (2:3), Hoffenheim (2:1), Qarabag (2:2 and 3:2), Augsburg (0:1) and Stuttgart (3: 2).
8. Granit Xhaka
Everything that Ćabi Alonso did as a player in the middle of the field was transferred to Granit Xhaka this season, so the Swiss who arrived from Arsenal is the player with the most successful passes in the Bundesliga.
9. Master
Florian Wirz is a miracle of a player, and he "exploded" with Alonso - the "ten" of Bayer is the most influential player of the team, and so far he has scored 17 goals and 18 assists.
10 Plan B
Until January, Ćabi Alonso mainly relied on the same 11 players, and after that important contributions to the title were also made by guys who until then mostly came from the bench, such as Patrik Šik, Roberto Andrih (he even played for Germany), Pierre Incapier or Natan Tele.
Bonus video:
