Bayer Neverlusen

Tyler Stearns |

A historical season for the new Bundesliga Champions Bayer Leverkusen has left the German and European football world in shock. For the first time since 2011, Bayern Munich has not won their domestic league. Their reign of dominance now comes to an end as Xabi Alonso’s incredible Leverkusen side upset the Bundesliga giants. 

Victor Boniface and Bayer Leverkusen, Via Eurosport

Bayer Leverkusen has had an amazing run this year and it continues to be astonishing as they are yet to lose a game in all competitive competitions. When they look like they are losing, they barrage their opponents with shots in and out of the box in the later minutes of the game, putting pressure on the opposition and creating chances for themselves. Their fluid style of football, filled with short passes and one-two passing progressions makes the team so fun to watch. The morale is high, the fans are happy, and the manager is staying. The team may continue this success next year!

But how did they do this? They signed many of their most successful players off of 20-30 million dollar deals. They signed Alex Grimaldo for free this past summer as well. They have offloaded players to help comply with FFP rules, however, they still have spent more money than they have received. Nonetheless, their financial issues will be amended this summer after winning the Bundesliga and likely the DFP Pokal and the Europa League if they continue on their current form. They are also lucky to keep Xabi Alonso for next season which should help them compete for the Champions League trophy. 

Alonso’s tactics are not necessarily revolutionary. He uses inverted fullbacks, a new idea, but still widely used. He asks his midfielders to find space and make short, quick passes. His wingers and attacking midfielders are given a lot of freedom to attack from different angles and different parts of the pitch. Nearly every player from the starting eleven has had their best season at the professional level. 

The secret to Leverkusen’s success has been exceptional scouting, cheap transfers, and a genius manager. The fans have bought into the project which has surprisingly only taken about a year and a half. The dominance of Leverkusen should be studied by many aspiring smaller clubs in European football. The one advantage Bayer has is that it plays in the Bundesliga, not necessarily the most competitive of the top five leagues. Other than Bayern, there are not too many worthy challengers. In other leagues, such as La Liga, there are about three or four teams that seem to place top four each season. But that can all be changed. As we saw with Leicester in 2016, Cinderella stories can happen. A misconception of these underdogs is that they have luck on their side. This is not true in most cases, considering Leverkusen won the league with nine games left to go and Leicester City won with around two games left to go. With successful financial decisions and a planned project with managerial and personnel stability, any team should expect to contend for their own nation’s league and perhaps Europe as well.