After winning all 32 of their league games this season, Bayer Leverkusen is now aiming to break more records. Xabi Alonso’s team is leading the Bundesliga division.
Another amazing week has passed at Leverkusen. Even if Xabi Alonso’s team didn’t put up as strong of a show in the 2-1 victory against Heidenheim as they had in the previous three matches against Bayern Munich, the outcome still means that they have won all 32 of their competitive games this year.
That matches the record set by Hansi Flick’s Bayern team, who also won 32 games in a row during the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons.
“I’m not celebrating 500 days in charge, but I’m happy with the win, with the performance, and with the result,” said Alonso. “It’s not easy to win here. We move on now, and take things game by game.”
A hard-fought three points were won thanks to goals from Amine Adli and Jeremie Frimpong, demonstrating that, in Alonso’s words, “the players are not only on it in top games, but also they’re here, alert and ready to fight.”
With an Africa Cup of Nations winner’s medal in his possession, Odilon Kossounou was fit to play again, but his position was limited to the bench as Josip Stanišić, Jonathan Tah, and Piero Hincapié started as the starting three-man defense.
“Choosing who plays can be difficult at times,” Alonso said. “But the players almost always understand, and if they don’t, they can always talk to me.” He emphasized that “in the next three, four months, we’ll need every player,” and Frimpong demonstrated that by starting and scoring against Heidenheim while sitting on the bench against Bayern.
Stanišić started, earning a reward for his good recent play: right-back. However, he was positioned as the right-side center-back, leaving Edmond Tapsoba and Kossounou as substitutes.
Performance levels should remain as high as they have been throughout this record-breaking season because of the healthy competition for the spots that Alonso has created.
Matchday 22 saw Leverkusen take the lead in the standings for the eighteenth time this season, setting a new club record. They have already scored 57 goals, which is the same number as they scored during the whole 2022–2023 season. It is still possible for them to become the first-ever Bundesliga team to finish the entire season undefeated.
Next up for Leverkusen are Mainz and Cologne, two clubs that, based on the standings, should be within striking distance. However, Granit Xhaka has cautioned his teammates, saying, “You have to win such games, it doesn’t matter whether it’s pretty or not.” Xabi Alonso’s team is capable of doing both, as demonstrated in their previous two games.