20th matchday
Bayer Leverkusen relaxed before the cracker week
Leverkusen’s goalscorer Nathan Tella (r) celebrates with his teammates about the goal to make it 2-0. photo
© Uwe Anspach/dpa
Bayer Leverkusen mastered the task in Darmstadt without any problems. Now the freestyle will follow in the DFB Cup against VfB Stuttgart and in the Bundesliga summit against Bayern Munich.
The professionals of the still undefeated Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen were only briefly celebrated by their traveling fans for their commanding 2-0 compulsory win over bottom team Darmstadt 98.
Just a few minutes after the final whistle, the focus turned to the upcoming cracker week with the cup quarter-final against VfB Stuttgart and the Bundesliga summit against Bayern Munich.
“As a footballer, you want to play these games. It will be a week that shows the direction. We definitely want to get through to the next round in the cup and then comes the big game against Bayern, where we want to give something to our fans,” said midfield veteran Granit Xhaka.
Like the Swiss national player, Bayer coach Xabi Alonso is also looking forward to the two top games. “The next week will be very nice for us. It will be very intense. But for now the focus is entirely on the cup. We want to go to the next round and take another step towards Berlin,” said Alonso.
Mature Werkself in Darmstadt
A solid performance was enough for his team against bravely fighting Darmstadt players. “We played in a controlled manner. It was a good and serious performance. The attitude was right. I’m very satisfied,” said Alonso. Thanks to a brace from Nathan Tello (33rd/52nd minute), the Werkself maintained their lead in the table with a two-point lead over FC Bayern, who beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1.
“I’m proud of many things that we have developed together,” said Leverkusen’s sports director Simon Rolfes, praising the team for their mature performance in front of 17,810 spectators. Xhaka was also happy. “We didn’t allow anything and deserved to win,” summed up the 31-year-old.
At the same time, the midfielder, who had received four yellow cards, was relieved that he received no further warning and could therefore take part in the game against Bayern. “There were discussions with the coach during the week about whether I should play or not. I told him that I now have more experience and will be careful. Thank God it worked,” said Xhaka. As always, he was a leader and a thinker, but he held back in the duels. “The team made it easy for me. So I didn’t have to get into many duels,” he said.
Lieberknecht wants Leverkusen to be champions
Although Darmstadt got off to a lively start, the guests always had everything under control and made a lot of their few chances. The second dangerous advance led to success. The very agile Florian Wirtz passed through to Alejandro Grimaldo, who fed Tello with a soulful cross. The Nigerian winger who started into the penalty area only had to hold his head.
Although the bottom team never gave up, the Hessians were too harmless in the end. “We performed well, but didn’t get any points,” was Lilien coach Torsten Lieberknecht’s succinct conclusion. The Werkself showed how it works better shortly after the restart. Wirtz, who received the award for goal of the year after the game, fed Tella and he finished coolly with a tight shot under the crossbar.
“Hopefully we lost against the new German champions. I wish that so much for them because they have an incredibly good team,” said Lieberknecht. Alonso acknowledged the compliments with a slight smile and promised: “We’ll try to do our job and see what comes out in the end.”