Bayer Leverkusen has taken another big step towards the first championship in the club’s history. Thanks to the 2-0 (1-0) win against VfL Wolfsburg, coach Xabi Alonso’s team remained unbeaten in the 36th competitive game of the season, and the lead over pursuers Bayern Munich remains a comfortable ten points nine games before the end of the season.
Nathan Tella (37th) scored the opening goal after brilliant preparatory work by Alejandro Grimaldo, then Florian Wirtz (86th) increased the lead for the leaders, who had been in the majority for a long time, and celebrated their 21st win of the season (a club record) – as many as Bayern in the last year’s championship season overall. The record champions had shot down FSV Mainz 05 8-1 the day before and hoped that Leverkusen would slip up – ultimately in vain.
Instead, the Werkself continued to collect records: with 25 unbeaten league games in a row, Alonso’s team surpassed its own record from the 2009/10 season under Jupp Heynckes. After the yellow-red card for Moritz Jenz, Wolfsburg played outnumbered from the 28th minute onwards and remains in 13th place. The lead over 1. FC Köln in the relegation zone is only seven points for coach Niko Kovac’s team.
The Bayer fans welcomed their derby winners from the previous week (2-0 in Cologne) with pyrotechnics and fireworks when the bus arrived. Compared to the lucky 2-2 draw in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League on Thursday at Qarabag Agdam, Alonso rotated back and relied on Granit Xhaka, Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick, who had been spared for a long time in Baku, from the start. There was little sign of fatigue right from the start. Wirtz in particular turned up the heat, hit the post (22nd) and could only be stopped by fouls. Jenz (12th) was shown a yellow card early on after a tactical jersey pull – only a little later he had to leave the field with a traffic light card after kicking Schick.
Kovac reacted, bringing on central defender Sebastiaan Bornauw for his only nominal striker Jonas Wind – but the defensive bulwark only lasted just under nine minutes. Grimaldo left his opponent Lovro Majer standing with a backheel trick, Tella had an easy time of it after the chip header. Numerous fans in the stands were already raising cardboard championship cups towards the evening sky. The favorites continued to restrict the offensively harmless guests in the second half, but at least the result remained exciting – until Wirtz struck with a direct shot.