Sport Bayer after derby victory
Leverkusen’s master calculation – “Ten points are a lot, definitely”
Status: 03.03.2024 | Reading time: 3 minutes
Industry leader FC Bayern gave the next through ball – and Bayer Leverkusen also used it. After winning the derby in Cologne, Leverkusen’s first championship title is within reach. Leading player Xhaka sounds quite optimistic.
The groundbreaking news of this football weekend came from the Republic’s statistics departments: Never before has a Bundesliga leader squandered a ten-point lead over the second-placed team in the last ten games of the season.
In this respect, Leverkusen had two things to be happy about two days after Bayern’s 2-2 draw at FC Freiburg. The club, which has never won the championship and once patented the name “Vizekusen”, has permanently discovered the winning gene. The 2-0 (1-0) in the Rhenish derby was not only the 34th competitive game without defeat this season, but also a more than big step towards winning the national title.
Although many in Leverkusen don’t want to officially talk about the championship yet, the clear numbers are more than clear, with Bayern now ten points ahead of Bayern after their 2-2 disappointment on Friday evening in Freiburg. “There are still a few games left to play. We have seen in the past what can happen. It’s important to keep this focus so as not to let it get out of hand. It’s worked well so far,” said Leverkusen national defender Jonathan Tah on DAZN.
“A derby is always special”
After the early red card against Jan Thielmann, Bayer was allowed to play in the majority for more than 75 minutes on Sunday. The two full-backs Jeremie Frimpong (38th) and Alejandro Grimaldo (73rd) once again scored the goals for the Werkself in Xabi Alonso’s 50th Bundesliga game as coach, who lost to Karabakh Agdam in the first leg of the round of 16 of the Europa League on Thursday Azerbaijan has to compete. It was the eighth goal of the season for Frimpong and the ninth for Grimaldo.
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“I would have liked to see the game eleven against eleven over 90 minutes. Nevertheless, we had our chances. You have to use that against Leverkusen to take something away. But you can see that they have extreme quality. It was difficult to play against them with eleven men, and even more difficult with ten men,” said Cologne’s Sargis Adamyan.
Granit Xhaka (l.) in a dispute with red-sinner Jan Thielmann (r.)
Quelle: Getty Images
Leverkusen playmaker Granit Xhaka was involved in the red card for Thielmann; the Cologne player unintentionally fouled him badly. “It hits me clearly in the Achilles tendon and doesn’t have to go in there that hard. The decision is definitely correct,” said the Swiss after the final whistle. “A derby is always special. Unfortunately, it was difficult to play football on the pitch. You can’t even play five passes in a row here before a ball bounces. You have to win a derby, no matter how. The three points today – we know how important they were.”
And then Xhaka was one of the few Leverkusen players to at least make a small master calculation: “Ten points are a lot, definitely. I have to be honest. But nothing has been eaten yet. As long as it still works out mathematically, we cannot say that it has already been decided. We will continue to be who we are: stay on the ground and keep working.”
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One of the secrets of the Bayer team’s success is the squad composition of experienced and young players. “We have a great mix, I think. We have been very cool throughout the season,” said Xhaka. “We know exactly when we need to increase the tempo or slow down the game. We have managed to do this very well up until today, up until the 24th matchday.”
His boss felt the same way too. “I am very happy with the result,” said coach Alonso. “It’s not easy against ten men. Before the game we saw Hamburg against Osnabrück, they lost to ten players. In the end, the result here is great and very important for us,” said the Bayer coach. “Winning here is a big step forward.”