Second game of the Champions League 2024/25 for the Rossoneri, against Bayer Leverkusen will be an absolute first, given that the sides have never met before in European competitions. We face the current German champions, who also won the 2023/24 DFB Pokal (German National Cup) and Europa League finalists, defeated by Atalanta in Dublin, the only defeat after 51 games unbeaten and 361 days.
Leverkusen, coached by the Spaniard Xabi Alonso, in Bundesliga have been able to interrupt Bayern Munich’s domestic dominance, as they had won eleven consecutive league titles. These little bits of data give an accurate description of the current quality and strength of our opponents, who currently sit fourth in the league. On 31 August, their unbeaten streak in the league of 35 games was ended after a 3-2 loss against Leipzig.
FROM OCTOBER 2022 TO THE MEISTERSCHALE
Bayer Leverkusen is a team that have gone from strength to strength, match after match, thanks to the work of Xabi Alonso and his team, starting from a far from ideal situation. Cast your mind back to October 2022, Xabi Alonso becomes Leverkusen’s head coach at a time when the team were bottom of the league with five points in eight league games, and at the same time were off the back of two defeats in three matches in the Champions League group stage. Bayer finished that season in sixth place, a launchpad for an unforgettable 2023/24 season, and with a Europa League semi-final which they lost against Roma.
The German side usually starts games with a 3-4-2-1 formation, which they also did in the recent big match of the Bundesliga against Bayern Munich, which finished 1-1. In front of the goalkeeper and captain Hrádecký, the back three is usually made up of Tah, Hincapié and Tapsoba: the midfield four is made up of Frimpong and Grimaldo out wide, quick and very attacking players, in the middle there is the experienced Xhaka and Andrich. Terrier and most important Wirtz sit behind Boniface. Its a team that is able to take control of the game, dominate possession, use Wirtz’s outside of the boot to their advantage and bring lots of players into action around the goalmouth.
STAR MAN WIRTZ AND A DEFENCE THAT CONCEDES
Wirtz is the star man of the German side, capable of making a big impact in the Bundesliga as well as in European games: in fact, he has been part of 24 goals in his last 26 starts for Bayer Leverkusen in European competitions (12 goals and 12 assists) and became the first German player to score two goals on his UEFA Champions League debut in his last appearance (brace against Feyenoord on the first match day). The two attacking midfielders – Wirtz is a fixed player supported by Hofmann, Terrier or Adli – who all change around up front, they try to get close to the player in phases of possession, and fill in between the lines.
Bayer play in a certain way, when they aren’t able to find a straight vertical pass to Boniface, they rely on a dense central passing game, which is sometimes quite risky, and can lead to losing the ball in key areas of the pitch. The tendency when they are without the ball, is for them to be pressing on the front foot, leaving the pitch tired and with little left in the tank. Always looking to be on the front foot that has cost them a few goals in the initial stages of the seasons: ten goals conceded in five Bundesliga games, and two in the Super Cup against Stuttgart. Xabi Alonso’s side is as formidable up front as they are vulnerable at the back.
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