Bayer Leverkusen took the world of football by storm last season. Led by a revolutionary young manager in Xabi Alonso, they broke record after record en route to becoming the first team to go unbeaten for the whole of the season in the German topflight.
They added a DFB Pokal trophy, to complete one of the most remarkable seasons ever in football. This season, however, all is not well with the Black and Reds as a lackluster start in the league has seen them underwhelm.
This begs the question, has Leverkusen fallen off or is this just a rough patch?
From Neverkusen to Neverlusen: Bayer Leverkusen make history Becoming the Biggest Surprise story in Europe.
Last season was filled with surprise packages in the top leagues of Europe, the underdogs punching above their weight to secure league finishes many believed were beyond them. From Aston Villa Clinching Champions League qualification in England to Girona challenging for La Liga for about half of the season before eventually finishing third, Brest and Bologna also secured Champions League qualification in the French Ligue 1 and Italian Serie A, respectively.
There was also Stuttgart who not only qualified for the Champions League but did so by finishing second in the Bundesliga! Despite the overachievements of these minnows, the biggest surprise package of last season was Bayer Leverkusen.
The Bavarian club snapped their Neverkusen moniker of being nearly men by winning a domestic double. They did it in style and record-breaking fashion too, becoming the first-ever team to complete a Bundesliga season without losing.
They swatted aside other teams in the DFB Pokal to win the cup in a similar fashion. They almost did the Same in Europe but lost to Atalanta in the Europa League final, having gone 51 matches unbeaten prior.
They had changed from never winning to almost never losing; from being the “nearly team” they had become almost unbeatable. As some fans aptly summed it up, they had morphed From Neverkusen to Neverlusen (Never losing)!
A Patchy Start to The Season New Season For Bayer Leverkusen.
The vast difference between the current Leverkusen and the one of last season is clearest when you look at the league table. About this time last season Bayer Leverkusen were the surprise leaders of the Bundesliga.
After eight rounds of fixtures, they were sitting on 22 points, two ahead of Bayern Munich. They had made a flying start to the season, winning seven of their eight games in the league with their only draw coming away at Bayern Munich.
This season, they currently have 15 points from eight matches, with four wins, three draws, and a loss to Leipzig. They are seven points worse off than they were at this point last season and are currently third in the league, five points behind the duo of Leipzig and Bayern Munich.
So, What Has Gone Wrong This Season?
Well for starters, they are scoring less and conceding way more. In the Bundesliga this season, they have scored 20 goals and conceded 15; at this point last season, they had scored a whopping 25 and conceded only seven.
This means they have scored five fewer goals and conceded more than double the number of goals compared to this point in the league last season. The data makes for even more grim reading defensively.
Last season, they only let in 24 goals in the league, the best defensive record in the Bundesliga and the second-best in the top five leagues. Thus, the 15 they have already let in so far in eight matches this season is only nine less than they conceded for all of last season!
The number of goals scored by Bayer this season is still very good, despite being marginally less than last season. Only Bayern Munich have scored more than the red and blacks in the Bundesliga this season.
It is in shoring up their leaky defense that the real problem lies. The number of goals they have given up has served to undermine their prowess at the other end of the pitch.
This has been acknowledged even by the Leverkusen players as after their last league match, a 2-2 draw with Werder Bremen, Granit Xhaka pointed out conceding goals as a problem.
He noted that their solid defending used to be their strength and dismissed suggestions that the poor defensive record may be because of rotation.
So, Have Bayer Leverkusen Fallen Off?
The truth is that Bayer Leverkusen have not performed as well as they did last season; however, saying they have fallen off is quite a stretch. This is so for two reasons, the first being that it was always going to be nigh impossible to maintain the standards of last season.
Last season, Bayer was freakishly good, posting one of the best seasons ever in football; if Bayer 04 had won the Europa League final, they would have become the first ever team in the history of the beautiful game to go unbeaten across all competition for a full season!
It was always going to be very difficult to match up to that.
The other reason is that result-wise, Bayer is having a decent season, on Tuesday ensuring progression in the DFB Pokal competition by seeing off second-tier Elversberg 3-0.
They’ve also made a very good start in the UEFA Champions League winning two and drawing one of their three UCL matches so far.
It isn’t like they’re having a historically bad season.
It is also apt to keep in mind that they have already claimed silverware this season, defeating SG Stuttgart on penalties to claim the German Super cup.
In conclusion, while the team is having some issues, Bayer Leverkusen is not in a crisis. Despite being five points behind the joint league leaders, the gap is not insurmountable, and they are still in the Bundesliga race.
They are also in good positions in the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League. It is, therefore, inaccurate to say they have fallen off or that they are in a crisis. However, they need to improve their recent results and their defensive end if they want to retain their trophies from last season and challenge for the Champions League.