Leverkusen the Bundesliga team to beat despite Bayern’s summer spree | Andy Brassell
Leverkusen have held on to Xabi Alonso and their star names, so Bayern, Dortmund and co are playing catch-up
Patrik Schick, again. The DFL Super Cup rarely provides any pointers for the forthcoming Bundesliga season, but what this year’s curtain raiser seemed to indicate is that maybe last season is still happening. The match-up between Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart – last season’s top two, with the former having won both league and DfB Pokal – was a reminder of an extraordinary 23-24 campaign, as was the bristling intensity of Saturday night’s fixture, uncommon for such a nominal showpiece.
And the manner was everything. Even it took a penalty shootout for Leverkusen to lift the fifth major trophy of the club’s 120-year history (and the third in the last four months under Xabi Alonso), the way in which Die Werkself got there suggested that we are probably not looking at a one-hit wonder. They played all but the first 35 minutes against Stuttgart with 10 men at the BayArena – debutant Martin Terrier was sent off for an ill-considered, studs-up lunge – and trailed midway through the second half when Deniz Undav gave the visitors the lead with his first touch.
