Xabi Alonso left an indelible mark on the way to becoming a top-class coach. He did it his way, with discretion on the wing and with many insiders on the field, naturally associating themselves in the process of dismantling Bayern Munich, a world football powerhouse literally powerless once morest a Leverkusen that is consolidating itself as the leader of a Bundesliga. which may be historical. The Bayer factory team has a five-point lead over the Bavarian team following 21 rounds. Frimpong’s spectacular goal in the 95th minute made the score 3-0 and unleashed the crisis in Germany’s hegemonic club.
3
Hradecky, Edmond Faycial Tapsoba, Piero Hincapie Reyna, Jonathan Tah, Josip Stanisic, Xhaka, Grimaldo (Gustavo Puerta, min. 90), Robert Andrich, Nathan Tella (Jeremie Frimpong, min. 65), Amine Adli (Jonas Hofmann, min. 82) and Florian Wirtz (Adam Hlozek, min. 90)
0
Neuer, Kim Min-Jae, Eric Dier, Dayotchanculle Upamecano (Joshua Kimmich, min. 59), Noussair Mazraoui, Sacha Boey (Raphael Guerreiro, min. 81), Aleksandar Pavlovic (Müller, min. 59), Leon Goretzka (Mathys Tel , min. 71), Jamal Musiala (Choupo-Moting, min. 81), Kane y Sane
Goals 1-0 min. 18: Josip Stanisic. 2-0 min. 49: Grimaldo. 3-0 min. 95: Jeremy Frimpong.
Referee Felix Zwayer
Yellow cards Sacha Boey (min. 35), Leon Goretzka (min. 61), Edmond Faycial Tapsoba (min. 63), Amine Adli (min. 76) y Hradecky (min. 82)
It was carnival night in Cologne and its surroundings. The fans came to the Bay Arena dressed in costumes in a festive atmosphere. Bayern took the field with a decidedly conservative plan. With three centre-backs, two wingers waiting to close, the beardless Pavlovic as director of the ball’s release, and his best players, Musiala and Kane, confined in rigid zonal positions, at the mercy of what Leroy Sané, probably the footballer with less emotional quality of Western Europe. A guarantee of instability to which Thomas Tuchel, the coach, granted maximum powers.
Against this plan, Alonso gave the initiative to his rival and waited for him organized in his field. He gave the management of the team to Granit false ninewith Adli and Tella occupying the lanes of the diez and the ocho with the maximum possible elasticity. The invention not only provided the team with numerical superiority in the midfield. He amplified the game at every level. A virtuous circle was created and a trap from which Bayern might not escape.
As the first minutes passed, it became evident that Bayern were getting stuck, a victim of their own rigidity, while Leverkusen formed passing chains with ease, as if each player chose at the right moment the area of the field they should occupy to offer themselves free. and continue the play. With Kane and Musiala isolated, Bayern’s destiny was left in the hands of Neuer, their goalkeeper, and Kim-min Jae, probably the best center back in the world, overwhelmed by the opposing waves. It didn’t take long for Leverkusen to take control of the situation: they counterattacked when and how they wanted.
Bayern did not generate a single clear scoring chance throughout the match. Leverkusen, for its part, began from the first half to place players one-on-one with Neuer once more and once more. Stanisic’s goal revealed the disorientation of the visiting defense, embodied in Boey, surprisingly chosen by Tuchel to the detriment of Guerreiro. The 1-0 opened the spigot of an unstoppable loop. The passing of the minutes gave security to Adli, Tella and Wirtz, three kids magnificently capable of carrying the weight of complex actions in all departments of the field, while in Bayern there was the kind of discouragement that precedes the dismissals of the coach. Rarely has the Bavarian team been more morally dejected in recent decades.
The debacle exalted the words that Lothar Matthäus, German football legend and leading voice at Bayern, spoke before the game. “Alonzo,” he said; “He has created a group of brothers in a perfect work environment. Leverkusen is without a doubt the most interesting team in Germany. He has scored 52 points in 20 games, is in the Cup semifinals and is still in the Europa League. The team plays with one touch, with intelligence and rhythm. Sometimes it seems like Guardiola’s Barcelona. The pressure is on Bayern. The result will have great psychological relevance.”
“More is not possible”
The 2-0 was the end of a synchronization exercise by Adli, Wirtz, Tella and Grimaldo. The young interior players offered themselves at the right moment to negotiate the play as it advanced from the left to the right axis of the field, opening spaces everywhere. Not even Kim, a perceptive marker like no other, managed to adjust the position in the face of Leverkusen’s penetration that culminated in Grimaldo’s shot. It was irrefutable proof that there is the hand of a coach who knows how to control his emotions and who, above all, knows how to work where the game has the greatest impact: in the midfield. The prestige has placed the Basque on Liverpool’s priority list in the search for a replacement for Klopp. At this rate, it won’t take long for Bayern to knock on his door.
Reiner Calmund, the sporting director who led Leverkusen to its first and last Champions League final, in 2002, praised the coach: “His menu, like a good Basque, has a Michelin star. Just look at his resume: he was world champion and twice European champion with Spain; He won the Champions League with Liverpool and Real Madrid, and eventually became German champion three times with Bayern. Xabi has worked with coaches such as Rafael Benítez, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti and Jupp Heynckes. More is not possible.”
The trajectory was not enough. The annals are full of footballers who were masters of their art and who later as coaches failed to convince their players. In Leverkusen there is no shortage of talent. But there is a spirit and a defined order that this Saturday took down one of the best teams in the world. Five runners-up finishes and no Bundesliga titles made the Ruhur team an object of ridicule. The fans called him Don’t cry. With Xabi Alonso they can change history.