Bayer Leverkusen has modest origins, as a team concieved for the Bayer pharmaceutical factory workers to have some fun and activity. The company that created Aspirin is no longer the club owner – but is still the main sponsor and the source of the joke nickname for the team: the Aspirins. This season, the fans’ headaches were made to disappear by a human Aspirin, the great Xabi Alonso.The former Liverpool, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich midfielder has turned to coaching and has proved a fantastic success in his first job with a first team. After a short time of working with the youth side of his boyhood club Real Sociedad, he received an unexpected call from Leverkusen just nine games into the 2022/23 season. They sacked coach Gerardo Seoane Castro after the team had only won one game and was stuck in the bottom three. Alonso accepted the challenge and has transformed the club astonishingly quickly. The Aspirins are now sixth in the Bundesliga standings and have just qualified for the UEFA Europa League semi-finals. The headache is gone.##NAJAVA_MECA_7198469##Bayer Leverkusen had not gone so far in Europe since the iconic 2001/02 season when they reached the Champions League final and lost to Real Madrid thanks to THAT Zinedine Zidane volley. This Leverkusen has to go a long way to reach such heights, but their quality will shine if Alonso continues like this. The ambitious 41-year-old spoke to Marca about his ideas in the game.”In my young career, it was a huge step up to accept the challenge to come to Leverkusen. There is a lot we still have to do. We have improved the situation, but we want to develop a good project for the club’s future.”The list of Alonso’s former coaches is impressive. He had a chance to play for and learn from Carlo Ancelotti, Pep Guardiola, Mauricio Pellegrini, Rafa Benitez, John Toshack and Jose Mourinho. He has a lot of information and experience – but he claims that the players at his disposal influence him the most.”All the coaches I had have influenced me. I was lucky enough to work with some of the best in the sport, and they have all left their mark on me. My style is defined by the players I have, and I adapt to them.”Xabi Alonso since taking over Bayer Leverkusen:✅ 16th to 6th in the league✅ Qualified for the Europa League semi-finals✅ 12 matches undefeated and they’re the only German team still alive in European competitions.Managerial midfield maestro. 🇪🇸👑 pic.twitter.com/lkMDdCFCyJ— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) April 21, 2023 Leverkusen has scored 63 goals in 29 games. If you only looked at results since Alonso’s appointment, his team would be in the Champions League places. Young guns like wingers Moussa Diaby, Florian Wirtz, and Dutch right-back of Ghanaian heritage Jeremie Agyekum Frimpong have given Leverkusen fans a lot of reasons to be excited.BUNDESLIGA – MATCHDAY 29Friday21.30: (3.25) Augsburg (3.50) Stuttgart (2.30)Saturday16.30: (3.15) Bochum (3.45) Wolfsburg (2.45)16.30: (2.37) Hertha (3.40) Werder (3.10)16.30: (2.32) Hoffenheim (3.40) Koln (3.20)16.30: (5.50) Mainz (4.10) Bayern (1.63)19.30: (1.68) Dortmund (4.00) Eintr.Frankfurt (5.30)Sunday16.30: (1.84) Freiburg (3.60) Schalke (5.10)18.30: (2.70) Leverkusen (3.40) RB Leipzig (2.80)20.30: (2.47) M’ gladbach (3.30) Union Berlin (3.00)***odds are subject to change
