Shortly before kick-off, Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes had to deal with a question that was as foreseeable as it was understandable after the events on Good Friday. Rolfes should explain what the recent declaration by coach Rolfes’ answer was both predictable and understandable. “That can give the team an extra boost,” he said.
But when the game against TSG Hoffenheim was underway, the Bayer sporting director sometimes had to ask himself whether his assessment had been a little wrong. Because the hoped-for Xabi booster initially threatened to become a Xabi brake. Leverkusen was behind until the 88th minute – after conceding a goal from Hoffenheim’s attacker Maximilian Beier (33′). But then the hour came for the Bayer comebackers. Yet again.
For the fifth time this calendar year, Leverkusen secured victory with a goal after the 90th minute, and for the tenth time since the beginning of the year they scored a goal after the 86th minute. Robert Andrich equalized to make it 1-1 (88th) and Patrik Schick scored three minutes later to make it 2-1 (0-1), saving Bayer from their first defeat in the 39th competitive game of the season. This team has not lost since May 27, 2023 – a 3-0 defeat at VfL Bochum in the final game of last season.
“I’m very proud of this team,” says coach Alonso
The win against Hoffenheim was of course well deserved despite the strong drama. Ball possession: 63 percent. Shots on goal: 36:6. Expected goals, i.e. promising goal situations: 4.1: 0.6. The fact that the Leverkusen team postponed the decision until the late phase of the game fit perfectly with their experiences from the past few weeks. Because there had already been: the 1-0 winning goal in Augsburg in the 94th minute, the 3-2 winning goal in Leipzig in the 91st minute, the 3-2 winning goal in the cup quarter-finals against Stuttgart in the 90th , minute, the 2-2 equalizer in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League at Qarabag Agdam in the 92nd minute – and the two decisive goals in the 3-2 win in the second leg against Agdam in the 93rd and 97th minutes.
“I’m very proud of the team,” said coach Alonso in the press conference after the game: “They just have a very good mentality.” When the goals are scored, he added, “it doesn’t matter – but of course it would be better a little earlier.”
When the question arose about the team’s remarkable mentality, goal scorer Andrich explained Bayer’s mantra when behind with these words after the game: “We do one, we do one, keep going, keep going, keep going!” In a sense, this is the once identical Oliver Kahn psychology squared.
After the 23rd win in the 27th Bundesliga game, we now face Düsseldorf in the DFB Cup semi-final
In any case, this Leverkusen mentality has nothing to do with coach Alonso’s latest statement. The team already delivered that beforehand. Andrich, whose rhetoric sometimes tends to be stoic, described the reaction to Alonso’s announcement that he was staying: “The team accepted it, but I assume that everyone was really happy about it inside.”
The team’s reaction to the 23rd victory in the 27th Bundesliga game of the season could not be reduced to inner joy. We’re heading towards the championship title in seven league boots – as we all know, it would be the first for Bayer Leverkusen – and the players are now extremely euphoric. Andrich was asked by Sky whether that was a milestone towards the title. “Another milestone,” he replied, according to the motto: Every victory is a milestone. Nevertheless, Bayer 04 already have 73 points – two more than FC Bayern on matchday 34 last year.
In any case, the Leverkusen team is ready for further milestones in the other two competitions. On Wednesday they will host second division team Fortuna Düsseldorf in the DFB Cup semi-finals, and the Thursday after next is the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals against West Ham United from London. If they continue like this, it can no longer be ruled out that this season, 31 years after Leverkusen’s last title (cup winner in 1993), will end with a treble.