Another late winner for Xabi Alonso’s side leaves them seven points clear of Bayern – the ‘Neverkusen’ tag is fading
It was like one of those rare moments when everyone lets loose. Xabi Alonso, so calm, ran down the sideline and slid down, narrowly avoiding falling to the ground the day after Bayer Leverkusen’s winning goal over RB Leipzig, while Piero Hincapié snuck in at the far post to hide some What another sublime free kick of the inevitable. Alex Grimaldo.
Let’s hope the coach discovered more grip in his shoes on Sunday afternoon, when Leverkusen’s weekend had an end they wouldn’t have dared to dream of. Werder Bremen, who had failed to beat Bayern Munich in 32 attempts in all competitions since September 2008 (with 3 draws in that period), won at the Allianz Arena and allowed Die Werkself to take a seven-point lead at the top.
Can Leverkusen’s triumph be seen as a rare opportunity, despite Alonso’s understandable nervous reaction to Hincapie’s decisive goal?Maybe more. It was a second straight stoppage-time goal, a second on Saturday to win a second Bundesliga game away from home since the campaign resumed in 2024.
There was definitely déjà vu for Werkself watchers in a match that for a long time resembled the last one they didn’t win, the 1-1 draw in Stuttgart in mid-December. The excitement was present in the early stages of the Red Bull Arena. where Leipzig, hit by last week’s home defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt, bet on their visitors unbeaten. Marco Rose has enviable quality and perhaps the jewel in the crown of his current collection, Xavi Simons, gave the home side the lead, lifting the ball like a Before and after that goal, when Benjamin Sesko caused all kinds of disorder to the usually calm Jonathan Tah, Leverkusen resisted.
However, as in Stuttgart, the visitors came out revitalised in the second half, gambling with the kind of urgency that would have advised a half-time flare from a less polite head coach. Leverkusen equalised temporarily, substitute Nathan Tella swallowed an attractive delivery from Grimaldo and the momentum was briefly halted with a Leipzig goal on a counter-attack, orchestrated by Simons and finished off by Loïs Openda, the Alonsos deserved not to have been stopped. Tah equalized from a corner to set the stage for Hincapie’s past heroics.
So Leverkusen were there again, showing arrogance and composure, but it was more than that. Tella was in the game as Jérémie Frimpong, almost as influential on the right this season as his counterpart Grimaldo on the left, had injured his thigh and had been forced off the field. His access to the first half was so sudden that he did not have the chance to warm up or, as it turned out, to dress appropriately. “I forgot my jersey in the locker room,” he sheepishly told ESPN afterward. “Someone had to get it for me. ” Alonso, visibly upset, forgave Tella when later asked about it, singing a song that praised the former Southampton player. “Today was a Topspiel [‘Big Match’] and to go out on the pitch after 30 minutes and achieve the required intensity is not easy,” Alonso said. “It was a smart game on his part. “
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How Alonso must thank his lucky stars that Tella, who only made his Nigeria debut in November, wasn’t called up for the African Cup of Nations due to the Super Eagles’ unbelievable armada of attacking talent. The tournament has already taken away four of his first XI (not that he, unlike some of his more senior coaching counterparts, has complained about it). One of those, Victor Boniface, will be missing long beyond the conclusion of Afcon with a serious thigh muscle injury and with Palacios going down in this game and unavailable “for the time being” , Leverkusen are stretched. If the Neverkusen tag is wearing off under Alonso, the mounting injury list is the main threat to their title push as it stands.
That next man up attitude is in full effect, though. “We were a bit disappointed with the early goal, and then Jerry got injured too,” Tella said. “That was a big setback for the whole team because he’s so important, but that gave me the opportunity to get into the game.” Opportunity is exactly what Leverkusen are so good at seizing right now. No excuses, just results.
M’gladbach 1-2 Augsburg, Bayern 0-1 Werder Bremen, RB Leipzig 2-3 Leverkusen, Cologne 0-4 Dortmund, Darmstadt 2-2 Eintracht Frankfurt, Freiburg 3-2 Hoffenheim, Heidenheim 1-1 Wolfsburg, VfL Bochum 1-0 Stuttgart
Bayern’s surprise defeat was therefore a huge advantage for Alonso and company, but let’s listen to Werder. Brilliantly organised through Ole Werner, they damaged the game, and goalkeeper Michael Zetterer also stepped up when needed. The winning goal – a brilliant solo effort by Mitchell Weiser – was a personal triumph for the 29-year-old. Considering his time as a teenage star at Bayern through Pep Guardiola and his failure at Leverkusen, Weiser is out of contract at the end of the season.
New FC Köln coach Timo Schultz wondered how his team controlled 19 shots against visiting Borussia Dortmund and finished the match with a score of 4-0, but in reality the gap in terms of offensive elegance between the two groups was frightening. . Effzeh made two clever attempts at the start of the second half, but that was it from a team that has scored just 11 goals in the entire Bundesliga season. Two from Donyell Malen and a clever contribution from Jadon Sancho in his first start, winning (depending on his point of view), a penalty scored by Niklas Füllkrug sealed the match long before Youssoufa Moukoko’s goal. Two wins and two defeats for Stuttgart and Leipzig put BVB directly in the top 4 after Christmas.
Stuttgart fell to a winner of Matus Bero in Bochum under unusual circumstances, with a break lasting forty-five minutes as negotiations to remove a banner from away fans blocking an emergency exit threatened to abandon the match. The chaotic defense that allowed Bero’s goal warned a team that had cooled down the delay.
Far more effective was the procedure that allowed Hungarian defender Attila Szalai to sign for Freiburg on loan for the rest of the season, after sitting on the Hoffenheim bench in his new club’s 3-2 win on Saturday. “It was a strange situation,” said Freiburg sporting director Klemens Hartenbach. Attila signed the contract at our workplace, still dressed in his Hoffenheim tracksuit, and five minutes later he was dressed in Freiburg clothes for the photo and video. “