Xabi Alonso will den Druck auf Bayern München aufrechterhalten
Xabi Alonso will den Druck auf Bayern München aufrechterhalten
It was quite possibly the craziest game of the Bundesliga season. Bayer Leverkusen has come from behind to beat VfB Stuttgart 3-4 in front of 59,000 fans at the MHP Arena. Ermedin Demirovic (14’), Nick Woltemade (48’) and Granit Xhaka (62’ O.G.) scored for Stuttgart. Jeremie Frimpong (56’), Piero Hincapie (67’), Angelo Stiller (88’ O.G.), and Patrik Schick (94’) scored for Leverkusen.
“We were able to show that we can come back from a deficit,” Xabi Alonso said. “After the 3-2, we started believing we could get back into the game. Then, after the third goal, we wanted to fight for the win. It was important for everyone, especially the players, after three defeats in a row.”
The game brought back memories from last year when Leverkusen turned into Neverlosen. Part of the foundation of last year’s double-winning season was the ability to come back late from deficits to win not just one point but all three.
That feeling returned today, especially in a game where everything seemed to go against Die Werkself. Leverkusen started well and had chances. Jeremie Frimpong, in particular, had moments in which he failed to execute an attack or play the decisive final pass.
Stuttgart, on the other hand, was more efficient. Woltemade sent Jamie Leweling into the box. His shot was saved by Lukas Hradecky but fell to Demirovic, who scored the opener. Then, in the second half, Woltemade pretty much scored with Stuttgart’s first chance.
That wasn’t the end of it either. After Frimpong shortened the lead to just one, Stuttgart attacked again and got a massive assist from Xhaka, who directed a rebound into his own goal.
The game felt over at that stage, and Leverkusen’s season finished. After all, Bayern Munich would have been nine points clear at the top of the table had Leverkusen lost today. But instead, Leverkusen mounted an incredible comeback and is now within six points.
“We want to put as much pressure on them as possible,” Alonso said. “We know that there are eight more games in the Bundesliga. Our goal is to give everything in every Bundesliga game. On top of that, we have the DFB Pokal semifinal.”
That doesn’t sound like a coach who has already given up on the Bundesliga title. “It isn’t in our hands,” Alonso said. “Our job is to win game after game. We will do our thing and see what Munich will do.”
More importantly, the game also buys Leverkusen some time. The club is currently without superstar Florian Wirtz, who will be out for several weeks. In his stead, Alonso opted to play Schick from the start, and in the final minutes, he also added Victor Boniface. The Nigerian striker would ultimately force the Stiller’s own goal.
With Leverkusen needing to chase Bayern, could we see Boniface and Schick together more often? “That’s a possibility,” Alonso said. “We played with three strikers at a time today. Amine Adli was also on the pitch. It worked well today.”
The ultimate question is whether it will put pressure on Bayern. The Rekordmeister is headed into the international break winless in two games. But the gap is still six points, and the Rekordmeister has the better goal differential.
In other words, a three-game swing over the last eight games seems unlikely. But as today’s game highlighted, everything is possible with Alonso in charge of Neverlosen.
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