The title is Leverkusen’s to lose as Alonso shows he is far from a one-trick pony

Bayer Leverkusenhead coach Xabi embraces Alonso Exequiel Palacios after the 2-0 win in Cologne.Photo: Ronald Wittek/EPA” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/sGDxEivNa4VhQpOd0t79WA–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU3Ng–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/theguardian_763/17a8214c5c191e97d68a 1b3fb37a890c” data-src= “https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/sGDxEivNa4VhQpOd0t79WA–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU3Ng–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/theguardian_763/17a8214c5c191e97d68a1b3f b37a890c”/>

Will the race for the Bundesliga be over before spring has even begun? Naturally. Plus a change, wake me up when it’s summer and all the rest. This time, however, it is not Bayern Munich, but Bayer Leverkusen of all teams.

Sunday’s victory just down the road in Cologne for Leverkusen did what Harry Kane’s injury-time winner for Bayern against Leipzig last weekend prevented. Still undefeated Leverkusen now have a ten-point lead over the perennial champions at the top, with just ten games remaining. Granit “I explain to them what happened,” he told ESPN’s Archie Rhind-Tutt of his speech to his teammates, “but you can’t explain it with words. You have to feel it.”

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If there was one moment in Cologne when it felt like the tide could still turn, it was six minutes into the second half. The home side found themselves up against even more than they expected, reduced to 10 men in the 14th minute when Jan Thielmann planted studs on the back of (an angry but composed) Xhaka’s calf. Yet Köln were still in it in the 51st minute, a goal thanks to Jeremy Frimpong’s opener, but certainly not under water, fighting hard and with equal parts intelligence and determination, which did not look obvious in an (over) physical first half. in which their frustration over the perceived injustice of Thielmann’s dismissal regularly threatened to boil over.

The fighters were given the opportunity they had hardly dreamed of. Sargis Adamyan, the striker who had not started one yet Effzeh‘s previous 23 Bundesliga games this season, as his teammates plundered a whopping sixteen goals between them, receiving a cross from Rasmus Carstensen from the right; right behind him, but he met him just before the penalty spot with an instep volley as he tumbled. It beat Lukas Hradecky, hit the inside of a post, before a grateful Hradecky and Frimpong guided the ball out and the home side’s chance for a famous equalizer – and perhaps result – was over.

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There have been few moments this season where Leverkusen have had any luck, but this was one. They came together quickly and their other full-back, Álex Grimaldo, finished it off with a second. Thus, they found yet another way to win a game, often dominating possession of the ball over the opponents. They beat Bayern in their BayArena by letting Thomas Tuchel’s side have the ball and then eliminating them. Here they faced a stiff challenge from inferior and committed opponents in a derby fervor, and refused to be disturbed or provoked; Jonathan Tah spoke afterwards about Leverkusen wanting to take the opener “too quickly” after Thielmann’s red, but about a “much better” second half, “using and distributing the spaces by moving the ball at high speed”. Xabi Alonso and his ultra-responsive players are far from one-trick ponies.

Such is the calm of Leverkusen that you suspect few of the Bayern persuasion were watching with hope on Sunday afternoon. For all Xhaka’s words of caution, this Leverkusen is different from last season’s Arsenal and, just as importantly, this Bayern is decidedly no Manchester City. Coming back from a goal on Friday evening in Freiburg, scored from distance by Christian Günter, Tuchel’s team led into the final minutes after fine strikes from Mathys Tel and Jamal Musiala, two players they would actually want to be part of. better future.

Yet they carelessly squandered two points, leaving their subdued nemesis Lucas Höler free to hit a fine equalizer past Manuel Neuer with three minutes of normal time remaining, outside a standard that should have been easy to defend. in situation. “We did things that we have never practiced before, that we have never talked about,” said a dejected Tuchel. If we already know that Bayern is looking for a new coach for next season, it seems that their current coach no longer even tries to hide the discrepancy between his discourse and what the players interpret on the field. If the last of a season full of unthinkable events takes place on Tuesday evening and Bayern are knocked out of the Champions League by Lazio at the Allianz Arena, it would not be a huge surprise if the team’s somber gatekeeper moves on before his scheduled departure date.

Freiburg 2-2 Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg 2-3 Stuttgart, Darmstadt 0-6 Augsburg, Mainz 1-1 Mönchengladbach, Bochum 1-4 Leipzig, Union Berlin 0-2 Dortmund, Heidenheim 1-2 Eintracht Frankfurt, Hoffenheim 2-1 Werder Bremen, Cologne 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen

Bayern must therefore look ahead. And now that Alonso is starting to look like the impossible dream, what if that name to take over came out of leftfield, yet a household name from the past? Saturday afternoon saw Stuttgart consolidate their hold on third place in Lower Saxony with a win in Wolfsburg. Without Alonso, Sebastian Hoeness from Stuttgart would certainly be a target for the title of coach of the season. The former Hoffenheim manager was the final roll of the dice 11 months ago and VfB’s fourth coach of a chaotic final campaign that saw a play-off needed to avoid relegation to the second tier. Now, with far fewer resources than the competition, Hoeness is breaking records on the other side of the table.

Where he has sent Stuttgart is extraordinary. They have never reached 50 points after 24 Bundesliga games before, even when they last won the title, in 2007. Only two teams with that many points at the moment have failed to finish in the top two, and none have failed. to reach the top four, so Deniz Undav’s suggestion this week that it is “not smart” to deny Stuttgart’s Champions League credentials has a mathematical context.

It doesn’t take the most vivid imagination to land a Munich-born candidate from safe hands next season. This fast-rising young coach can reaffirm his commitment to Stuttgart, but when your father [Dieter] and uncle [Uli] are synonymous with Bayern and the latter is possibly the most influential personality in the club’s history, it is difficult to gloss over the family name. That’s not even mentioning Sebastian’s successful season as coach of Bayern’s second team in 2019/20, which saw him lead to the 3.Liga title.

“I can’t help the speculation,” Hoeness Jr. said. against Sky after a full-time employment with Wolfsburg. “It’s not difficult for me [to say] because I feel completely comfortable at VfB and working with the guys is a lot of fun.” Yet there are clear boundaries in Stuttgart. Top scorer Serhou Guirassy and Undav (on loan from Brighton) may both be gone next season. There are financial realities, even with an unexpected Champions League bonus. Who wants to clean up the empty trash the morning after the party?

A quick glance at the opposite bench, on the other hand, let Hoeness know that coaching is all about timing. Wolfsburg’s sporting director Sebastian Schindzielorz spent Saturday evening supporting Niko Kovac at ZDF’s Aktuelle Sportstudio (“we stand by him”) but that the end was near was clear on a day that passed the Bayern coach versus the future Bayern coach could have been . Kovac’s current career may also be something Tuchel should consider. Currently, only Leverkusen offers certainty in Bundesliga circles.