Seismologists working on the Pacific Ring of Fire, for example, are known to suffer. They know that there will be an earthquake there, soon if in doubt. But they don’t know exactly where or when.
The Bundesliga’s seismologists know how to locate the next earthquake more precisely: Bayer Leverkusen’s triumph in the championship is inevitably approaching, and that means that the tension that has built up this season could itself be released next week: A Leverkusen’s victory in their own stadium against Werder Bremen, and the first championship in the club’s history is a fact, dethroning FC Bayern after eleven titles in a row.
Because the Munich team lost 2:3 at FC Heidenheim despite a 2-0 lead. And Bayer also won 1-0 at 1. FC Union Berlin. Leverkusen’s lead over Munich is a whopping 16 points before matchday 29. “We are facing a historic opportunity and are only one step away from seizing it,” said Xabi Alonso, 42, Leverkusen’s coach.
Alonso explained this in the press conference, which still had a slightly comedic tone. The news of Leverkusen’s upcoming championship has long since crossed borders and also crossed the Pyrenees, which led, among other things, to Spanish radio reporters being present and asking Alonso for an assessment in his native Spanish. Spanish radio listeners are not particularly fond of Goethe’s language.
Nenad Bjelica, Croatian coach of 1. FC Union and former professional in Spain’s La Liga, spontaneously offered to act as an interpreter. And he translated cursorily, but well enough that Alonso could be satisfied with it. As satisfied as he was with the harvest from his team’s trip to East Berlin, which also filled the squad with pride. “We have to be aware that from today we can talk about the title and really make history,” explained midfielder Granit Xhaka.
Six new guys on the team? This doesn’t affect Leverkusen’s automatism in the slightest
The shortened look at the game in Köpenick says that Leverkusen had laid the foundation in the eventful injury time of the first half. First, DFB defender Robin Gosens was punished with a yellow card for the second time in the game for a foul on Nathan Tella and was therefore sent off; Then the Cologne cellar denounced a handball by Union captain Christopher Trimmel in the penalty area. Florian Wirtz converted the penalty, and Union were lucky that referee Benjamin Brand gave Trimmel a red card, which would have been due because he prevented a shot into the goal. But the broader view of the game said that Leverkusen should have taken the lead earlier.
“We played very well in the first half,” Alonso explained truthfully, but also made it clear that he had something to criticize about his team’s performance in the second half. But who does that when you touch the championship trophy with your fingertips and have to examine your ninth win in a row and your 41st competitive game without defeat one after the other?
This result was all the more astonishing because Alonso had replaced half of the starting eleven compared to the previous two games. Three days after reaching the DFB Cup final, at the end of May against 1. FC Kaiserslautern in Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, the Basque had changed his team to six positions. This didn’t affect the so-called automatisms in the slightest.
Accurate from eleven meters: Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz converts the penalty to make it 1-0.
(Photo: Annegret Hilse/Reuters)
The Leverkusen team monopolized the ball for a long time against the Köpenick team because, in case of doubt, two or three passing lines opened up for every player in possession of the ball, and only had to endure attempts from the Berliners to finish after a good half an hour. Conversely, the Leverkusen team repeatedly combined in front of their hosts’ goal. Only the last pass – that is, the pass into the opponent’s goal net – failed. One of the six newcomers, the Spanish winter signing Borja Iglesias, had the first opportunity in the 3rd minute; Union goalkeeper Frederik Rönnow brilliantly parried a free kick from Alejandro Grimaldo (11th) and a header from Iglesias after a cross from Tella (15th), a right-footed shot from Grimaldo landed left of the goal.
“If we make it, we will celebrate, but not yet,” says Alonso
What was mentioned followed: Union’s chances, the sending off for the unfortunate Gosens, the penalty goal. And a second half in which Leverkusen dominated for a long time with the advantage, but also faced increasingly stubborn Unioners who still had half chances and hoped for an equalizer at the end at the corners. Alone: It remained a 1-0 victory, which opened the doors to a bigger party so wide that Bjelica congratulated his colleague Alonso – prematurely – on winning the title. “If we make it, we will celebrate, but not yet,” replied Alonso.
This is not flirtatiousness, but a question of seriousness in view of the coming weeks. On Thursday there is the first leg in the Europa League against West Ham United, followed by the game against Werder Bremen on Sunday, the aforementioned cup final against Lautern and the prospect of an unprecedentedly flawless championship, of winning the title without defeat. There has never been anything like this in the history of the Bundesliga. It’s not the case that you think you’re unbeatable, said Xhaka. “But if we continue like this and do down-to-earth work every day as we have done before, then anything is possible.”