Rome, Europa League, players, coach, how they play, secrets of Bayer Leverkusen

A sudden sense of serenity. A bit of a mix between hope and awareness. Bayer Leverkusen has suddenly become the club that plays the most intriguing and, at the same time, functional football in Germany. This despite having won only one of the first 8 games of the season and two of the first 12. The reason is simple: in the thirteenth game of this season something changed that upset the team and the club, the coach.

Soane’s farewell

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In place of Gerardo Seoane has arrived Xabi Alonso, and the world has suddenly started to turn in the right direction. The one hoped for by the fans and wanted by the managers. The Spanish coach also took a while, but then he had an impact: in his first 7 games as an “Aspirin” coach he only won one game, with the team thus arriving in November having played 19 games, winning only 3 times the 3 points. It seemed like the prelude to a disastrous season, but then the Xabi Alonso effect started to emerge: suddenly here’s 5 hits in a row, suddenly here’s the good game and enthusiasm. Until he reaches the semi-final of the Europa League which he will play against Mourinho’s Roma, with whom Xabi Alonso played.

The team

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Under Xabi Alonso Bayer moved from seventeenth to sixth position in the league, with him they beat Bayern and Atletico Madrid, returning to a European semi-final for the first time since 2002. That year had an opposite development to the current one. The Leverkusen goalkeeper Butt, Lucio and Ballack started very strong, to the point that he arrived at the end of April being first in the standings in the Bundesliga, in the semifinals of the Champions League and in the final of the national cup. The treble was within reach. Then the final collapse: in the penultimate season of the championship they lost against Nurmiberg and, just 90 minutes from the end of the championship, they were overtaken by Borussia Dortmund. He conquered the Champions League final by eliminating Manchester United, but lost in the last act against Real Madrid, after also losing to Schalke in the last round of the German Cup. He could have won it all, but every goal suddenly evaporated. This year Leverkusen has rediscovered that faith in the future which it has never really found since 2002. With just six months of work, Alonso has managed to ensure that Bayer is seen by all as a formidable opponent, with the team finally feeling strong. “The lads lacked healthy control of the game – explained Alonso -. Before, Leverkusen had the ball in hand, without really dominating the match. The team didn’t feel as beautiful as it had been painted in the summer.” Alonso’s tactical principles are easily recognizable at all stages of the match. When in possession, Leverkusen attack while keeping the four defenders blocked behind. Andrich and Palacios, in front of the defence, move without ever staying on the same line. Important, in Xabi Alonso’s ideas, that the team has ball possession. It is then mainly up to Wirtz, the more tactically free, to create chances. The German talent moves between midfield and attack, and often invents for the wingers, broadening the game. When the ball is lost Alonso asks his players to make density, to give even the most offensive players time to return.

The technician

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Before going to work in Germany Xabi coached the second team of Real Sociedad, but he was followed by various clubs: Real Madrid and Liverpool, of which he wore the shirt, they observe him carefully, Gladbach has thought of him for the after Marco Rose (when he joined Dortmund in 2021). Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, when he was managing director of Bayern, openly said he could imagine Xabi Alonso as a coach of the Bavarians. However, he wanted to do things gradually: only after working for a year in the Real Madrid youth sector did he understand that he would embark on a coaching career. He then accepted the job at Real Sociedad to “get to know me as a coach, understand how I would interpret this role”. Then, in October, he moved to Leverkusen: “I understand that the time is right, I feel it”. He has several points of reference: as a footballer he played for people like Rafa Benitez, José Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Manuel Pellegrini, Carlo Ancelotti, Vicente Del Bosque and Luis Aragonés. “I learned from all of them that the most important thing is for the players to understand and follow the ideas of the coach,” Alonso explained. They have to believe what the technician says. They must have the feeling that by following the coach’s ideas they can improve. Human relationships come first, then tactics and technique”. However, that too is an important aspect for Xabi: “I would like my teams to play in a modern way, being dominant and active. You have to have intensity, even without the ball. And you have to be focused for 90 minutes, because if you pull the plug after 80 minutes, you lose.” In short, Xabi asks a lot of him, yet the team always conveys a sense of great serenity. A bit of a mix between hope and awareness. As if he feels it’s a magical season.