Xabi Alonso defeated ex-club Bayern Munich in his first attempt as a coach and provided Leverkusen with hope for the European Cup and excitement in the championship fight. The VAR is also a winner in a way in Leverkusen.
< p>Xabi Alonso scratched his beard in disbelief, looked around at his own bank a bit disoriented and then walked rather quickly to the Bayern bank, where he hugged some of his old companions from the Munich days. It almost seemed as if the Spaniard wanted to apologize for the defeat he had just inflicted on Bayern.
Perhaps the 41-year-old simply hadn't realized that he had just defeated his former club as Bayer Leverkusen coach. Which would not be surprising, because Leverkusen's victory was the first against the record champions since November 2019 and that was Alonso's first attempt as a coach in the Bundesliga.
Or it was simply because of the extremely strange nature and how Leverkusen turned the game into a 2-1 win after being 1-0 down? Because the almost identical scene had happened twice. The main participants: Leverkusen's offensive man Amin Adli, referee Tobias Stieler, the video assistant referee (VAR) and Exequiel Palacios.
Pride example for the VAR
Adli fell twice in the Bayern penalty area, twice Stieler accused him of a swallow and showed him yellow. However, the VAR contacted Stieler twice and he reversed his decision twice in favor of Adli and, after studying the video images, pointed to the penalty spot. World champion Palacios scored twice from the penalty spot (55th/73rd minute) and thus ensured the victory for Leverkusen.
“Today was a prime example of the perfect cooperation with the video assistant,” said Tobias Stieler after the game on “DAZN”. “That was very, very good today and basically my lifesaver and the lifesaver for the game.” Both teams were “happy in the end” and that counts, according to Stieler, who thanked the video assistant: “Twice on the field next to it, twice many thanks to Cologne in the basement for the great support.”
The main actors of the “VAR Festival”: Leverkusen's Amin Adli and referee Tobias Stieler
The previous scenes will not be forgotten by Stieler, Adli and the spectators in a hurry. After looking at the images from the second scene, Stieler ran up to Adli, crossed his arms over the yellow card and laughed. Then both gave each other a shake hands and Palacios took the penalty – a scene that you can only very rarely admire in the Bundesliga in the context of the video assistant. Adli, who had already signaled to him with a gesture in the second scene that that he should look at the pictures again, I promised him his jersey, said Stieler after the game on “DAZN”.
What sounds a bit like something out of a “Hollywood” brand sports film made everyone in Leverkusen cheer at the end of the evening. It won't have mattered to the fans either that they were pretty wrong that evening with a banner against the VAR in terms of dramaturgy of the first penalty in the Leverkusen curve.
Alonso's handwriting
Counterstrength, concentrated defense and flexibility in terms of taking on tasks in all parts of the team were the key to Leverkusen's victory that evening. A deserved win – winners and losers agreed on that after the game, as well as in the assessment of the penalty situations. “I saw relatively quickly that it was a penalty both times,” said Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann at “DAZN” and spoke of a deserved defeat. “Except maybe in the last ten minutes, we were the worse team,” said Nagelsmann, who missed power and had seen a “sluggish” team.
“The bottom line is that the defeat is deserved,” said Thomas Müller at “DAZN” and attested Leverkusen, “simply more poisonous and bilious”. “Leverkusen had today what distinguished us in the last few games. We don't have to discuss the referee. We have other issues,” said Müller, who was one of the first Bayern players to be hugged by Xabi Alonso after the final whistle. Müller is one of five current Bayern professionals with whom Alonso has played. The others are the injured Manuel Neuer, substitute goalkeeper Sven Ulreich, Kingsley Coman and Joshua Kimmich, who scored the Bayern lead in the 22nd minute and with the record champions is almost the heir to Alonso as a midfield mastermind.
Fourth in the fictional table since taking office in Leverkusen: Xabi Alonso
Alonso, on the other hand, has long since taken on other tasks and is continuously working on his reputation as a coach in Leverkusen. The win against the former club will give the Spaniard a boost, as will the fact that Bayer Leverkusen would be fourth in the Bundesliga table had the season only started. started with Alonso taking office in October 2022. “It's unbelievable,” said Alonso after the game on “DAZN” and was “happy, satisfied and proud.”
“He's doing well. But not only in the last three weeks, but also before that,” Bayer sporting director Simon Rolfes told DW after the game. The team has developed, so Rolfes. “It's becoming increasingly apparent that we defend well but are also able to control the game better and better with the ball. That's also his handwriting that the game bears.”
Bayern under pressure
The Spaniard has formed a team that is on the cusp of making the connection to the top from the thriving permanent losers at the beginning of the season. And there the fight for the title is becoming more and more exciting due to the Bayern defeat. Thanks to the 6-1 gala against 1. FC Köln and Bayern's mistake, Borussia Dortmund is two points ahead of Munich at the top of the table and is confident in the Bundesliga showdown against Bayern after the international break on April 1 in Munich ;
This game will surely follow Xabi Alonso as well. Given his past as a player, it is obvious who he is keeping his fingers crossed for. Coach Alonso will look at the duel between the two currently best teams in the Bundesliga less from an emotional perspective than from an analytical one. After all, there is a lot to learn from the top teams if you want to form one yourself. “We have already improved our game and our stability,” Alonso emphasized before the Bayern game and added promisingly: “The last few months have been good and we still have two months to go at full throttle.”