Bayer Leverkusen clinch maiden Bundesliga title

Bayer Leverkusen won their first-ever Bundesliga title following a 5-0 hammering of Werder Bremen at home on Sunday. It is Leverkusen’s first league title in their 120 years of existence. With the title, Leverkusen ended Bayern Munich’s dominance of 11 consecutive titles.

Xabi Alonso-managed Leverkusen came into the fixture knowing a win would secure the title with five games to spare, but there were no signs of nerves in a dominant display.

A hat-trick from Florian Wirtz alongside goals from Victor Boniface and Granit Xhaka extending their unbeaten run to a stunning 43 games in all competitions.

History.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen are German campions for the first ever time

Bayern Munich’s 11-year dominance of the #Bundesliga is broken by Xabi Alonso’s Werkself. pic.twitter.com/ajpZdgH2Rj

— Matt Ford (@matt_4d) April 14, 2024

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Leverkusen’s previous best finish had been second place, something they had achieved five times in their history. Their quest to win a remarkable treble also remains alive. They take on Kaiserslautern in the domestic cup final and lead West Ham 2-0 in the Europa League quarter-final after the first leg on Thursday.

With 10 minutes to go, the long-suffering fans made their way to the sidelines and a few jumped the gun, storming the pitch with the full time whistle yet to be blown.

Leverkusen players ushered the fans back into their seats. Some obliged, albeit briefly, with the stands swiftly emptying on the 90-minute mark as tearful fans made their way onto the field to celebrate with the players.

Leverkusen are now on 79 points — the best tally after 29 games in German league history — and are 16 clear of second-placed Bayern and third-placed Stuttgart.

The Leverkusen bus arrived at the stadium well before kick-off, wading through a sea of fans clad in black and red on the way to the 30,000-capacity BayArena.

Normally known as Bismarck Street, fans had stuck temporary signs saying ‘Xabi Alonso Street’ along the main road in honour of the club manager.

Alonso looked ahead to the second leg in the Europa League, making seven changes to his starting XI and benching stars Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo, the latter for the first time in the league this season.

Piero Hincapie, Grimaldo’s replacement, had an early effort at goal saved but it would be the fit-again Boniface, making his first start since mid-December, who put the home side in front.

Und da ist sie, die Meister-Bierdusche für @XabiAlonso! 🤩🍺#ForOurDream #Winnerkusen #DeutscherMeisterSVB

#B04SVW 5:0 | #Bayer04 | #Werkself pic.twitter.com/uVigODO3YQ

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04fussball) April 14, 2024

With 22 minutes gone, Jonas Hofmann was felled in the box by Bremen’s Julian Malatini, with the referee pointing to the spot after VAR urged him to view the contact again on the monitor.

Boniface stepped up and nervelessly slotted the penalty past a helpless Michael Zetterer to send the home fans into raptures.

Hofmann was almost the provider again shortly before half-time, his pass finding Amine Adli who fired against the crossbar.

Bremen started the second-half strongly but their hopes of spoiling the party were snuffed out on the 60-minute mark, Boniface finding Xhaka who unleashed a long-range rocket before slapping his badge in front of the ecstatic home fans.

Wirtz, who came on at half-time for Adli, replicated Xhaka’s effort eight minutes later from almost the same spot on the pitch.

Wirtz added another with seven minutes remaining before sealing his hat-trick in the 90th minute as Leverkusen rid themselves of their nearly men tag in style.