02/09/2024 - Leverkusen had gone 462 days without a domestic defeat and led 2-0 here before a dynamic-shifting fightbackOnce again Bayer Leverkusen put up formidable numbers at the weekend. They outgunned their visitors RB Leipzig in almost every possible metric; 26 shots to the visitors’ eight, 18 corners to two and 62% possession. Yet the number that will stick in the mind is a significantly bigger one.Four hundred and sixty-two. That was the number of days since Die Werkself’s previous Bundesliga defeat – before Saturday, when Leipzig finished the job that Borussia Mönchengladbach could not on the season’s opening night. Like Gladbach, Marco Rose’s team came back from 2-0 down at the champions. In contrast, they surfed the momentum, with Loïs Openda adding a firmly struck winner to his equaliser. Leipzig now have the longest unbeaten streak (13) in the Bundesliga. Leverkusen thus tasted domestic defeat for the first time since losing a dead rubber at Bochum in the final game of 2022-23, ending Collapse

26/08/2024 - It took a youngster and a veteran to stop the champions stealing an early advantage in the Bundesliga title raceSometimes less is more. “I think in recent years he would have done another jink and another, after the two stepovers,” reflected Nuri Sahin. “This moment describes his development. No frills, stepovers, just straight into the box.”In his decisive half-hour cameo for Borussia Dortmund on the season’s opening day, Jamie Gittens showed that he is following his new coach’s instructions to the letter. Continue reading... Collapse

23/08/2024 - Wirtz scores rebound after 100th-minute penalty savedLigue 1: Paris Saint-Germain put six past MontpellierBayer Leverkusen were pushed all the way by Borussia Mönchengladbach, who fought back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2 before Xabi Alonso’s defending Bundesliga champions found a trademark late goal to claim all three points.Florian Wirtz scored the winner in the 100th minute amid torrential rain at Borussia-Park, getting to the rebound first after Jonas Omlin had saved his penalty. The Gladbach keeper went the right way but could only push the ball back into play, allowing Wirtz to fire home his second goal of the game. Continue reading... Collapse

18/07/2024 - Guinea forward scored 28 goals in 28 Bundesliga gamesStriker aiming to ‘win titles’ after move from StuttgartBorussia Dortmund have sealed the signing of the highly rated Guinea striker Serhou Guirassy on a four-year deal from Bundesliga rivals Stuttgart.The 28-year-old scored 28 goals in 28 league games last season, finishing behind only Harry Kane in Germany’s top-flight goal scoring charts. Dortmund have paid the player’s release clause of €17.5m (£14.7m). Guirassy declared that he has made the move to last season’s Champions League finalists “to win titles”. Continue reading... Collapse

04/06/2024 - Xabi Alonso and unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen rewrote history but mentions too for Stuttgart and Harry Kane’s wonder goal Bayer Leverkusen’s double (almost treble)-winning season was so stellar that to describe it as such, or as the Bundesliga’s first-ever unbeaten season, almost undersells it. Xabi Alonso’s side were daring, thrilling fare throughout the campaign, signalling how serious they were to the world in late January by destroying incumbents Bayern Munich 3-0 at BayArena. They won the title at the first opportunity – again in great style, beating Werder Bremen 5-0 – and Alonso’s coaching skill was apparent at every turn, managing his squad through injuries and fatigue and expertly flipping the script in game, besides getting unexpected levels out of players like Jonathan Tah, Lukas Hradecky and Robert Andrich. Continue reading... Collapse

25/05/2024 - Compensation of £10.2m will be paid to Burnley for head coachBelgian chosen to replace Tuchel despite relegation in EnglandBayern Munich have agreed a three-year deal with Vincent Kompany to take over as head coach.A fee of £10.2m will be paid to Burnley to bring the 38-year-old to the Allianz Arena, where he will succeed Thomas Tuchel in the top job. The Bundesliga club failed in their attempts to convince the German to stay after a run to the Champions League semi-finals and were forced to search elsewhere for a replacement. Continue reading... Collapse

20/05/2024 - Stuttgart share Leverkusen’s growth of having finished this campaign with a barely believable 40 points more than last From start to finish the afternoon that confirmed Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen as unbeaten Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen was what has come to be typical of them. The voracious feasting on opponents’ mistakes, as Amine Adli did to provide Victor Boniface with the opener.The evidence that Xabi Alonso has drawn things from these players they never dared believe were there, as when midfield destroyer Robert Andrich tucked in an artful rabona. The false tension, when Augbsurg teenager Mert Kömür scored a goal worthy of the style of Alonso’s team to bring the deficit back to one, but we knew Leverkusen were never going to blow it. Continue reading... Collapse

13/05/2024 - Odds are still against them but if struggling Effzeh stay up the wild win against Union Berlin will be talked about for decadesBorussia Dortmund may have done the Bundesliga proud this week. They didn’t do FC Köln any favours on Saturday night. After the Champions League finalists’ meek 3-0 defeat at Mainz, Edin Terzic and Marco Reus were sheepish and apologetic, with the coach bemoaning the display as “the face we’ve shown far too often this season”.No matter. It takes a lot to dampen the spirits of the people of Cologne at any time, but on this Saturday? Nothing was going to smother the fire in their hearts. Their Effzeh had snatched victory from the jaws of certain defeat in a manner that stunned a stadium and city in which people want to believe anything, everything, is possible. They couldn’t quite believe this. “We were already relegated,” defender Timo Hübers told Sky afterwards. “We were mentally and physically exhausted.” Continue reading... Collapse

06/05/2024 - Departing legend played his part in helping his hometown club approach the second leg against PSG with spirits high“He is,” said Edin Terzic, “a living legend.” The stars have not always aligned for Marco Reus as he has wanted or deserved but on this first weekend of May, everything clicked into place.This was the first part of a two-stage tribute at Signal Iduna Park for one of Borussia Dortmund’s most beloved players of the modern era. It was emotional – and emotion is what this arena always does best. With his good friend Jadon Sancho looking on from the centre circle, clapping and spellbound, Reus approached the Yellow Wall for his applause at full-time, his young daughter in his arms. Continue reading... Collapse