Bayer Leverkusen are vowing to achieve great things again this season after an unprecedented unbeaten league and cup double last campaign.
Following their historic league and cup double last season, Bayer Leverkusen is determined to do even better this year. The 2024–25 Bundesliga season begins on Friday when Leverkusen hosts Borussia Moenchengladbach, a local rival. Many people believe that Xabi Alonso’s team will become the first team since Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund in 2012 to win the German top division twice, aside from Bayern Munich. While Bayern and Dortmund and RB Leipzig have made significant summer spending purchases, Nathan Tella, a forward for Leverkusen, predicted that his team will have yet another fantastic season.
“No laws prohibiting us from doing any of this exist. All that matters is how each of us approaches the season with diligence.”
Tella told AFP that “there’s no reason why we can’t defend the title” during Leverkusen’s preseason training camp in the Black Forest resort of Donaueschingen.
“We’ve witnessed Bayern do it for a very long time. Why are we unable to take comparable action?
“What we can do has no boundaries. We had little faith in ourselves the previous year, yet we ended up winning the whole thing without a loss.
“Being a part of this team, anything is possible.”
‘Our own magic’
The 2024–25 season for Leverkusen got underway in a recognizable manner.
In the Super Cup match on Saturday, Leverkusen defeated Stuttgart on penalties after attacker Patrik Schick equalized in the 88th minute.
Last season, Leverkusen’s journey to the Europa League final and most of their success were built up by goals scored late on by a team that was unaware they were losing.
The location of Leverkusen’s summer training facility was the same one used to kick off Spain’s victorious Euro 2024 campaign a month prior.
When asked if Leverkusen might profit from a little La Roja magic this season, Tella said that his team didn’t require outside help.
To be fair, we have our own magic. Tella pointed at Florian Wirtz, the master of Leverkusen’s midfield, and remarked, “That was him.”
Leverkusen kept Wirtz and the rest of their squad this summer despite interest from some of the top teams in Europe.
The fact that coach Alonso has pledged to be around for at least another season in spite of interest from a number of his previous teams, including European powerhouses Bayern, Real Madrid, and Liverpool, is perhaps the most significant.
Success drove Alonso’s decision to stay, Xhaka told AFP.
He’s trying to show that we’re capable doing it again. He showed the players that he had faith in their squad and that they can repeat their performance this year.
‘Evolve and improve’
Aside from its financial advantages, Bayern’s long-standing supremacy in the Bundesliga has been supported by an unwavering drive to improve, even when the team is already at the top.
Leverkusen were not content to rest on their laurels even after a barnstorming campaign in which the team broke through for their first Bundesliga championship.
During his playing career, Alonso won several titles. He set the tone for preseason training by stating that his amazing performance from the previous season “probably wouldn’t be enough” this time around.
Coach stated, “We have many fundamentals.” “We must upgrade it, add something new, and include additional components. We must change and advance.”
Granit Xhaka, a midfielder for Leverkusen who, like Tella, moved to the city from England prior to the previous campaign, was Alonso’s representative on the field and played more minutes than any other outfield player.
“I concur with the coach as he is the one who is knowledgeable. Xhaka told AFP that “you have to improve year by year if you want to improve year after year.”
“You need to not just look at the good things, but the bad things as well.”
After a season in which he scored 17 goals and helped Burnley advance to the Premier League, Tella moved to Leverkusen.
As Leverkusen attempted an incredible triple, he scored seven goals and provided six assists. The London-born winger was also called up to the Nigerian national team.
Tella stated that the team’s goal was to get better.
It is something we hope to achieve. We’re not quite there yet, the coach remarked. It implies that we have a goal to strive for in order to get better.
“The bar we set the previous year was so high it nearly seemed unreal. We want to meet, if not beyond, those benchmarks once more.”
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