For the first time since 2012, the German champions are not Bayern Munich. Leverkusen not only benefited from a crisis in Munich, but also from serious structures and an exceptional coach.
The 2024 championship title: more of a snapshot than a changing of the guard. Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso (left) and Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel.
Wolfgang Rattay / Reuters
Bayer Leverkusen are now German champions. For the first time, 120 years after the club was founded and after many unsuccessful attempts that earned the club from the industrial city in the Rhineland the nickname “Vizekusen”. At the beginning of the season, such a scenario would have seemed unrealistic. But now, after a season in which Leverkusen dominated the competition in a way that Bayern last managed under their coach Pep Guardiola a decade ago, this championship seems historic for German football.
It is the consequence of the excellent work in Leverkusen, which began a year and a half ago with the appointment of coach Xabi Alonso. The structures that coaches like him have been able to build on have existed for a long time.
This team has truly earned the expressions of sympathy that Leverkusen is now receiving: 42 games without defeat is an almost breathtaking series. But once again it shows that there is hardly a standard and center among German football fans when it comes to assessing events. It is tempting to use Leverkusen’s championship as evidence of the vitality of the Bundesliga. However, the club managed to do this in a season in which Bayern find themselves in a crisis, the outcome of which is uncertain.
The joy over a new champion who, after a decade of Bavarian monoculture, is finally not called Bayern Munich is understandable. However, the reactions seem a bit exuberant. This is a well-known pattern in Germany. Anyone who remembers the discussion and the German national team six months ago could have believed that German football was on the verge of bankruptcy. Two passable international matches against well-known opponents such as France and the Netherlands were enough to turn the mood into the opposite: Suddenly the assembled fan base convinced themselves that Germany was a candidate for the title at the European Championship in their own country.
Tuchel also knows how opinions vary
Bayern also learned how quickly public opinion changes with their coach Thomas Tuchel. After Tuchel had been castigated as the person most responsible for the sporting failure a week ago, he was celebrated to such an extent that the rind was cracking after a draw with top English club Arsenal FC in the Champions League.
However, should the Munich team be eliminated in the second leg on Wednesday, then the previous assumption will definitely come into force again immediately.
Such considerations should in no way diminish Leverkusen’s title win. But it is certainly not a new era in German club football that would be ushered in by winning the title. If coach Xabi Alonso, who appears almost sinister in his pursuit of perfection, decides to move to Munich, Madrid or Liverpool after the coming season, Leverkusen’s dominance could soon be over. For now, however, this team is setting standards that will apply to the competition for a very long time.