Germany: Leverkusen champion, end of eleven seasons of hegemony for Bayern Munich

Bayer Leverkusen won the tournament Sunday à home the first German championship title in its history, and, at the same time, put an end to the championship. eleven seasons of Bayern Munich's hegemony over German football.

By outclassing Bremen 5-0 at the end of the 29th day of the Bundesliga, Xabi Alonso's men, still undefeated, secured a 16-point lead over Bayern Munich and Stuttgart. Five days before the end of the season, they can no longer be reached and seize the “Schale”, a trophy awarded to the champion which was the exclusive property of Munich between 2013 and 2023.

< p>To win the title on the 29th day, the third earliest coronation after those of Bayern in 2014 (27th day) and in 2013 (28th day), Xabi Alonso's men had to win on Sunday.< /p>

It was Leverkusen's top scorer, Victor Boniface, who opened the scoring in the 25th minute from the penalty spot, after a foul on Jonas Hofmann punished after using video assistance .

At the hour mark, Granit Xhaka doubled to offer thirty minutes of pure euphoria. Florian Wirtz in the 68th minute found himself at the conclusion of a superb collective movement with a magnificent strike from 30 meters.

– 43 matches without defeat –

Xabi Alonso, coach of German football club Bayer Leverkusen, celebrates his German Bundesliga title after the 5-0 victory against Werder Bremen at Leverkusen Stadium on April 14, 2024. © AFP – INA FASSBENDER

Wirtz scored his hat-trick at the end of the match, causing the pitch to invade before the final seconds, in an exceptional atmosphere. And the end of the match took place with a slight red cloud, coming from the smoke bombs of the Leverkusen ultras.

Leverkusen played its 43rd match of the season on Sunday without losing (38 wins, 5 draws), thus equaling the performance of Juventus Turin in 2011/12, with the difference that the Bianconeri did not have a European Cup to compete at the time.

The Werskelf harvest (the “factory eleven”, nickname of the club team founded by the chemist Bayer in 1904) can continue in the coming weeks.< /p>

In the Europa League, they will face West Ham in London on Thursday in the quarter-final second leg, after a 2-0 home success three days ago. With this meeting in mind, Xabi Alonso left three of his best players (Florian Wirtz, Alejandro Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong) on ​​the bench for the title match at kickoff.

And Lukas Hradecky's teammates will close their season with the final of the German Cup (scheduled for May 25, three days after the final of the Europa League) against Kaiserslautern, residents of the 2nd division .

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