How Important is the 2023-24 Bayer Leverkusen Campaign

The Bundesliga’s 2023-24 season has been clearly a massive story to remember for all football fans all over the world. What was once “another day in the office” proved to be something that most fans are now keen to see as the campaign wraps up with Bayer Leverkusen now on top instead of Bayern Munich. So what has changed in the league?

How Bayern’s Dominance Has Set the Standard in the Bundesliga?

Bayern Munich is the Bundesliga’s defending champion – for 11 straight years. The team has met a lot of competition over the decade, from Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach, RB Leipzig, and VfL Wolfsburg. Still, no club has ever managed to dethrone them in those years, with Bayern coming up a bigger juggernaut one season after another, which is what made them a favorite over those campaigns. They have set the standard of winning in the Bundesliga, proving how they cemented their place as the face of the league.

The antics of Robert Lewandowski played a huge role in their success. However, one can attribute the brilliance of the coaching as they have stacked plenty of stars in a single club, making them work as a single unit that has turned the tide of dominance not just in the Bundesliga, but for the whole of Europe as they managed to steal the big stage in the massive competitions that involved some of the best clubs in the continent.

How Bayer Has Capitalized on a Historic Season?

The years of impressive greatness from Bayern have really proved to be a standard of success in German football, and being the best team in the top-flight is something that everyone should never look down on. This was the big motivation for Bayer Leverkusen, a team in the top flight that has seen multiple chances since the 1996-97 season and the 2010-11 run as their most recent push in the top spot. This season, however, was a start of a new era in the Bundesliga.

The 2023-24 Bayer Leverkusen Roster image

For the first time in what seemed to be forever, Bayer Leverkusen has managed to find its way to the top of the Bundesliga after waiting so many years to get their shot at the championship. No one can deny that fans did not expect them to make a rapid climb to the top spot, and it goes to show that they really made a breakthrough in this season. But what gave them the best chance to climb to the top?

An Inconsistent Bayern

A winner of 11 straight Bundesliga titles, a club that still has the best players in the game, including a frustrated Harry Kane from Tottenham – But everything seems to be going wrong with a lot of tough games down the stretch. For once, Bayern isn’t the favorite to win the competition, and they aren’t performing at the high level that they were expected to do so, and it all points towards a possible end at Thomas Tuchel’s tenure as the head coach by the end of the campaign.

Leverkusen defeated Bayern in their February showdown image

Not satisfied that Bayern is inconsistent? Everyone knows that the Bavarian squad never backs down from a fight – especially in a showdown against their rivals for that season. That’s not the same Bayern that stepped up when they were torched by Bayer Leverkusen in their February showdown, which saw the league leaders eclipse them for a 3-0 victory. This also turned Bayer into a favorite from being a title contender, and it was haywire for the defending champions since then. The inconsistency has pushed the team to tough losses – with Leverkusen making the most of those opportunities.

A New Genius in Xabi Alonso

When Xabi Alonso was appointed as the coach for Leverkusen in October 2022, the team was already on the verge of sinking into the lower tier of German football. However, all he needed was 18 months as the former Spanish international flipped the switch and went against the script as they proved that they could pull off some of the biggest stories in German football. Since then, Leverkusen ushered into a new era of dominance in the Bundesliga when it mattered most.

Well, his success is heard all over the world – to the point that Bayern Munich is even keen to make an offer to him by the end of the season, and Liverpool from the English Premier League keen to make their way for an offer to replace outgoing coach Jurgen Klopp.

Xabi Alonso emerged as the new coach for Bayer image

This made it clear that Alonso was an emerging genius that Bayer can rely on, and it is no secret that his impressive strides have made the team an even better club to look out for especially with the season going down to the closing stretch.

Xabi Alonso with the Bayer Leverkusen squad image

On top of that, Alonso has turned a losing club into a title contender – a club to look out for in the Champions League next season. This is why there are more expectations on how the 42-year-old will come up with more successes for Leverkusen in the years to come. Let’s be real, he is the big reason is why there is a strong consideration as to how he changed the dynamic for the club – now winning a title for the first time in a few weeks’ time.

The Emergence of the Big Five

The combo of Victor Boniface and Alex Grimaldo was already dangerous enough in putting up goals against other teams in the league. But when Alonso assembled them with Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Patrik Schick, everyone in the league took notice as the squad became one of the biggest scoring lineups in the Bundesliga. This has allowed Bayer to ascend into one of the blazing clubs in the league as they managed to click in almost every single game, putting up a scoring clinic whenever they want, and showing that even the young talents can still put up impressive performances under the right guidance.

Bayer flexed a new "Big 5" in their roster this season image

Between the five of these players, Leverkusen has generated a total of 54 goals and 42 assists in the season as of the time of writing. This just shows how impeccable they are as a squad this season with the right direction after coming up with an impressive stretch this year. Now they have something that rivals the best teams in the Bundesliga, defining a title this time around.

The Future of Bundesliga in Bayer’s Hands

With the season just eight games away from ending for good, it does seem that Bayer has the title locked up with a 10-point lead over the defending champions. Fans and the rest of the Bundesliga is counting down the days that a new champion will be named, and one can say that the future of the German top flight is safe in Bayer’s hands now more than ever.

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