Heading into Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga match against a resurgent Borussia Dortmund, Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso confirmed that an unforgettable stint of almost three seasons at the BayArena would be ending at the imminent conclusion of the current campaign.
Once the match started, it was obvious that the Leverkusen players were significantly jolted by the announcement - and understandably so. Die Werkself, who had just surrendered their Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich, were nowhere near their usual standard as they succumbed to a 4-2 loss against Die Schwarzgelbe.
Leverkusen actually opened the scoring in the 30th minute via Jeremie Frimpong; however, just three minutes later Julian Brandt scored against his former club to make it 1-1. Dortmund would then go into the half-time break a goal ahead after Pascal Groß set up Julian Ryerson who put Dortmund ahead.
Dortmund would then go on to score twice within a four-minute second-half span with Karim Adeyemi and Serhou Guirassy getting on the scoresheet. It was Guirassy’s 19th league goal of the season, tying him with Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick in second place on the league’s goalscoring rankings. In stoppage time, Leverkusen substitute Jonas Hofmann emulated Brandt by scoring against his former club; however, at this point it was completely irrelevant to the outcome.
It’s more than understandable that Leverkusen were clearly rattled by Alonso’s announcement that he’d soon be leaving the club. Alonso has taken Leverkusen from a relegation dogfight to far and away their most successful era in club history and the clear second-best team in Germany behind Bayern Munich.
When Alonso took over from the recently-fired Gerardo Seoane in October 2022, Leverkusen were second-last in the league and seemed likely to be in contention for relegation at the end of the 2022-23 season. Alonso’s hiring raised eyebrows for many as he had never been a first-team head coach up to that point - let alone one of a club in one of the major European leagues. However, as the weeks and months passed and the wins piled up, Alonso silenced the skeptics again and again. When the season wrapped up, Alonso had taken Leverkusen all the way to sixth place and a spot in the following season’s Europa League.
That, however, would pale in comparison to what the man from the Basque Country was about to pull off. The next season, Alonso took Leverkusen to the Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal titles. Not only that - it was the first time that Leverkusen had won the league title in the club’s history, and they even did so without losing any matches along the way. Despite not being able to cap things off with a Europa League victory, there’s no question that what Alonso did in 2023-24 is among the greatest managerial feats of all time - making the fact that he was snubbed for the Johan Cruyff Trophy, awarded to the world’s best football coach, in favor of Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti particularly egregious.
This past season, Alonso proved that the season before was no fluke. Though Leverkusen weren’t able to defend either of their titles, they nevertheless clearly distanced themselves from every other Bundesliga club not named Bayern Munich. Alonso will now leave Leverkusen having turned it from an afterthought to a bona fide powerhouse of European football in less than three years - a feat made all the more impressive given their lack of financial resources and general prestige prior to his arrival.
Regarding player development, Florian Wirtz has turned into a true superstar with Alonso at the helm while the likes of Victor Boniface, Álex Grimaldo Patrik Schick, Lukas Hradecky, and Jonathan Tah, among others, have all had career-best seasons with Alonso in the dugout.
As Alonso prepares to leave Leverkusen for Real - the club for which he played for five years - to replace Ancelotti, he will certainly have enormous shoes to fill upon his arrival at the Santiago Bernabéu. The same can certainly be said about whoever goes on to replace Alonso at Leverkusen.
Although Xabi Alonso’s stint in charge of Bayer Leverkusen will be a relatively short one, there’s no question that it will be one which will never be forgotten. Someday, there ought to be a statue of Alonso put up just outside the BayArena.
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