Bayer Leverkusen is aiming for its 12th competitive win in a row against Union Berlin on Sunday (November 12th, 2023). But the games are becoming increasingly difficult for the Bundesliga leaders – and Union urgently needs points.
A year ago, the league leaders and the 16th in the league met in the duel between Bayer Leverkusen and Union Berlin. But that is exactly what shows how big the changes have been since November 6th, 2022. At that time, Union, which was currently in crisis, was the front runner, while Leverkusen was threatened with relegation.
However, with the 5-0 win, the “Werkself” gained some breathing space and new self-confidence, started a series and ultimately even ended the season on a European level.League-Place. They are now the top team in the league and are even on course to record. With a win, Leverkusen can equal FC Bayern Munich’s starting record under Pep Guardiola of 31 points from the first eleven league games. But what applies to Bayer also applies to Union: win – no matter how.
Leverkusen continues to win – but no longer as convincingly
Leverkusen has found this increasingly difficult in recent weeks. The triple load makes it more playful Flow maybe a little lost, the team from Xabi Alonso no longer dominates his games like he did at the beginning of the season, but he still manages them successfully. Like last weekend at TSG Hoffenheim (3:2) and on Thursday in the Europa League at Qarabag Agdam (1:0).
“Football is about winning. We know we have to and can play better, but Qarabag did well“, said midfield boss Granit Xhaka. And Jonas Hofmann summed up: “We traveled far and wide and wanted to show our best football. That didn’t quite work. But a win like that feels really good.“
And that’s what it’s all about against the Union. Alonso also reacted accordingly to the possible starting record. “That’s not the most important thing. We never talk about records, that’s not an issue for us. Our focus is only on how we can improve“, said the 41-year-old. Records are merely “the consequence of good work. But it’s better not to focus so much on the record.”
Alsonso warns about Berlin
Instead, the focus is on the game against Berlin. And just as the Union team didn’t see their opponents as relegation candidates a year ago, Leverkusen doesn’t do the same with the current crisis club. “The situation at Union is not normal“said Alonso.”There were a lot of games that they didn’t deserve to lose. We expect a difficult game. We have to play with quality, control and good energy to win the game.“
That’s exactly what Union has to do after 13 failed attempts. After all: in the Champions League Urs Fischer’s team finally ended their series of defeats, with SSC Napoli (1:1) not going bankrupt for the first time in twelve competitive games. “We have finally rewarded ourselves for a great performance. I’m happy for Union, I’m happy for the team“, said the Union coach afterwards.
Bonucci: “We can’t be satisfied”
Christopher Trimmel was also relieved. “It was a bit more Union-like again. I think it’s good for everyone“, said the captain. The point gain did not take away the explosiveness of the current misery, the situation in the Bundesliga remains dangerous. Leonardo Bonucci demanded accordingly: “We cannot be satisfied.”
And Trimmel also made it clear that Union will not travel to Leverkusen with the self-image of being the blatant outsider in 16th place. “Of course Leverkusen is an amazing team at the moment, but so is Naples. So we will go there with more confidence” said the 36-year-old.
Union have not scored a goal for over three and a half games
It’s obvious who has better form. But it is also the question of which team will be better able to cope with the stress of the past few weeks. Leverkusen is still successful, but no longer in a frenzy, while Union has achieved its first small breakthrough in Italy. So it could be a very problematic matter for the league leaders.
“Union is still a very strong team, they don’t allow many shots on goal“, said Alonso. But the defense wasn’t the biggest of the many construction sites anyway, but rather the offense. In the league, Fischer’s team has been without a goal for 329 minutes. Union has to change that in Leverkusen in order to get their first win since the end of August to celebrate. For both of them it will be a question of strength: physically and mentally.