The New York Times’ Rory Smith pointed out that “Leverkusen has illuminated the European season like no other team in winning its first German championship, after 120 years of trying. And it has also overtaken Benfica as the owner of the longest unbeaten run in European soccer since World War I."
Top U.S. sports outlet The Athletic wrote "for 54 games, Bayer 04 held the world’s attention... aside from the flowing football, the growth of Xabi Alonso, the flagging careers coming back to life (Granit Xhaka, Jonas Hofmann, Alex Grimaldo) and new stars being born (Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Victor Boniface), it all just looked so much fun!"
World's leading business paper from the UK, Financial Times, wrote that Bayer Leverkusen's impressive performance this season will be "hailed as a chance to boost Bundesliga’s global appeal" while its U.S. counterpart the Wall Street Journal labeled Leverkusen "the team that forgot how to lose" with a headline last week as it pointed to Bayer 04's historic 51-match unbeaten streak.
The Guardian wrote that there is likely more to come: "The double is just the start of the journey for evolving Bayer Leverkusen." Continued writer Andy Brassell: "Alonso’s side have been a juggernaut, trampling all in their way and, on the occasions they have found themselves behind, eventually reeling in their opponents with increasing inevitability. They have transformed Germany’s and the continent’s expectations of them, and their expectations of themselves."
So continued many other top sports dailies across Europe. "Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen completes the double in a spectacular season," wrote Spain's leading sports journal Marca, while France's L'Equipe wrote that "Bayer Leverkusen put an exclamation point on its historic season by capturing the double."
"Thanks to a fireball from Xhaka in the 17th minute, Xabi Alonso's men made up for the defeat in the Europa League final and ended the season with the double," said Corriere dello Sport in Italy.
CBS Sports (USA) wrote "the first German double winners to go through an entire domestic campaign without defeat. That there was no Europa League title to go with it should barely dull the triumph for a club that has so often borne witness to the glory of others."
Said ESPN soccer insider Alejandro Moreno after the season concluded: "now Bayer 04 Leverkusen have become the talk of the town, the talk of the league, the talk of Europe! They are attracting the attention from everywhere."
Bayern Munich come to the BayArena this Saturday with an 11-point lead in the Bundesliga as they look to take a step closer to the title. As imperious as they may seem, a weakness has emerged of late that the Werkself proved they can exploit in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the Champions League. Leverkusen are also looking to make it four Bundesliga home games unbeaten against the Bavarians. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the 15:30 CET kick-off in our matchday news.
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Another home game, another top opponent - another marker? Three days after their convincing performance in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg, Bayer 04 continue their Bundesliga campaign with an equally high-calibre fixture. Matchday 26 sees league leaders Bayern Munich visit the sold-out BayArena. Ahead of the clash, head coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about a comparison between Arsenal and the Bavarians, Bayern's high-scoring performance in Europe's premier club competition and a return to the squad for one Werkself player.
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High spirits and previously untold stories: Around 100 Bayer 04 fans packed the Schwadbud fan pub in the east stand of the BayArena on Thursday evening to be there in person for the first instalment of the new series of events entitled “Rudi lädt ein” (Rudi invites you). They listened intently as long-serving Werkself players Gonzalo Castro and Stefan Kießling chatted with record appearance-maker Rüdiger Vollborn and presenter and stadium announcer Tobias Ufer about their many years together at the club, shared amusing anecdotes and revealed dressing room secrets. Anyone who missed the premiere can already look forward to the second instalment – on 12 May, Rudi will be testing the expert knowledge of Bayer 04 fans during a quiz night.
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They're well on their way to becoming German champions for the 35th time and once again proved their incredible class in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. This Saturday, 14 March (kick-off: 15.30 CET), Bayern Munich will be the visitors to the BayArena. It'll be a meeting of the two Bundesliga teams with the most dominant styles of play. A look at our opponents shows the visitors from the Bavarian capital have many strengths - but are also vulnerable.
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Sofie Zdebel is up for the Goal of the Month award for February on ARD-Sportschau. Fans have until 21 March (19:00 CET) to vote for the Germany U23 international's volley to make it 2-0 in the Bayer 04 Women's derby against FC Köln (2-1).
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