Leverkusen's lesson in ease: 4:0 against Union
Xabi Alonso took to the pitch with a smile to congratulate his players on their Bundesliga record and club best. In the stands, the great soccer philosopher Jorge Valdano nodded approvingly. Bayer Leverkusen is increasingly becoming a genuine title contender and the biggest rival of record champions FC Bayern. In the 4:0 (1:0) win over the unfortunate 1. FC Union Berlin, coach Alonso's unbeaten team continued their run of form and set a club record with seven wins in a row.
Despite the stresses and strains of traveling after the Europa League win three days earlier at Karabakh Agdam (1-0) in Baku, the Bundesliga leaders put in a commanding performance in front of 29,387 spectators in the sold-out BayArena after goals from Alejandro Grimaldo (23'), Odilon Kossounou (56'), Jonathan Tah (73') and Nathan Tella (83') to secure their tenth win in eleven games.
Guardiola's record set
31 points after eleven games is a record only achieved by Pep Guardiola as Bayern coach in 2015/16 - with Alonso as a player. "Outstanding. Going into the international break as league leaders is very, very good," said international Jonas Hofmann, describing the elation. Alonso also wants to use the break "to realize what we've done."
In contrast, Berlin's dramatic downward trend continues after their 1:1 draw in the Champions League at SSC Napoli. In Leverkusen, the Ironmen suffered their ninth Bundesliga defeat in a row and plummeted to the bottom of the table. Another alarm signal: Union have never gone 419 minutes without scoring a goal in the top flight.
Union captain warns of a fall from grace
The ongoing misery is likely to increase the pressure on coach Urs Fischer, even if the fans remain astonishingly loyal to him. Manager Oliver Ruhnert stared into space on the bench after the final whistle. "We have to improve in many areas, otherwise it will be difficult to stay in the league," said captain Christopher Trimmel. And Fischer made it clear: "When you're playing in a relegation battle, you need a different body language, a different mentality."
Hoping for a similar courageous performance from his team as in Naples four days earlier, Fischer relied on almost the same starting eleven. Only Axel Kral replaced the suspended Rani Khedira. However, that could not prevent the Werkself from taking control from the start. Leverkusen's pressure increased steadily. Grimaldo, who was recently called up for the Spanish national team for the first time, hit a spectacular long-range shot from a half-left position into the corner of the goal to give the leaders the lead.
Leverkusen's high tempo and skillful combination play caused the Berliners major problems. The few attempts to relieve the pressure with their own attacks were mostly ineffective. The result was a one-sided game with clear advantages for the hosts. However, they failed to capitalize on this. Chances by Kossounou (27) and Florian Wirtz (45) to increase the lead to 2:0 went unused. In contrast, the Iron came close to the Bayer goal just once before half-time. Janik Haberer's header (43') was no problem for goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky.
Leverkusen go one better
After the restart, Alonso's team continued to push the pace - and were quickly rewarded. A corner from Hofmann was headed into the net by defender Kossounou. In view of their great superiority, it seemed that the game was already decided. For the rest of the game, Leverkusen had little trouble not only maintaining their lead, but also extending it with goals from Tah and Tella.
Bayer Leverkusen's impressive performance in the Bundesliga continues, as they secure a 4-0 win over Union Berlin, extending their unbeaten streak to seven games. This victory sets a new club record for the most consecutive wins.
Despite their commendable effort in Naples for the Champions League, Union Berlin continues to struggle in the Bundesliga, suffering their ninth consecutive defeat to Leverkusen. This streak also includes going 419 minutes without scoring a goal in the top-tier league, indicating a worrying downturn in form.
Source: www.dpa.com
