He is celebrating his anniversary in Norway and Xabi Alonso draws a very positive conclusion after a year as coach of Bayer Leverkusen. “A lot has happened,” said the former world and European champion, who is in charge of the “Werkself”, the first first division team in his coaching career, before the Europa League game at Molde FK on Thursday (from 9 p.m. in the TM- live ticker).
In 45 competitive games under the Bayer Cross to date, the Spaniard has averaged 1.84 points. Only two other coaches have been more successful in the club’s history with the same number of games or more (statistics). “I’m happy when I look back. I have a nice, good record. We have developed well, our game and our team. It’s been a very, very good experience for me so far.”
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Alonso took over Bayer on October 5, 2022 as the successor to Gerardo Seoane in 17th place in the Bundesliga. After a 4-0 win against Schalke, six competitive games followed without a win. The former Bayern professional has been extremely successful with Leverkusen since the beginning of the year. He led the “Werkself” into the European Cup and the Europa League semi-finals last season. This season, Bayer is still unbeaten and top of the Bundesliga. Overall, he won more than half of his games and lost only ten.
But Alonso wouldn’t be Alonso if he attached too much importance to the anniversary. “I don’t want to look back so much, I’d rather look forward,” said the 41-year-old: “I have the feeling that this can be a very good season for us. We deserve a good start. But now we have to move on.”
Rumors persist that Alonso could succeed Carlo Ancelotti as coach of his former club Real Madrid after the season. Alonso has never commented on the content of these. When he extended his contract in Leverkusen until 2026 at the beginning of August, Ancelotti’s departure from the Brazilian association was already certain. By the way, on the anniversary, Alonso experiences a special game: he has never been to Molde in his successful career. The club’s own arena is a real gem and is located directly on the Moldefjord. The game is played on hybrid turf. “A beautiful place,” said Alonso.
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