Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga title for the first time in their 120-year existence on Sunday, defeating Werder Bremen 5-0 and snapping Bayern Munich’s 11-year dominance on the German top flight.
Leverkusen, led by Xabi Alonso, knew victory would win the title with five games remaining, yet there were no nerves in a commanding performance.
Florian Wirtz’s hat-trick, along with goals from Victor Boniface and Granit Xhaka, extending their unbeaten streak to an incredible 43 games across all competitions.
Leverkusen’s first title, following five second-place finishes in club history, keeps their quest of a spectacular treble alive while permanently shedding their unwelcome ‘Neverkusen’ label.
With 10 minutes remaining, the patient fans began to make their way to the sidelines, and a handful acted prematurely, assaulting the pitch while the game was still in progress.
Leverkusen’s players ushered the crowd back, and some did, albeit momentarily, with the stands quickly emptying on the 90th minute as tearful fans made their way onto the turf to celebrate with the players.
Leverkusen now has 79 points after 29 games, the biggest record in German league history, and is 16 points ahead of second-placed Bayern and third-placed Stuttgart.
The Leverkusen bus arrived at the stadium 90 minutes before kickoff, wading through a sea of black and red-clad fans on its way to the 30,000-capacity Bay Arena.
Normally known as Bismarck Street, fans had placed temporary signs along the main road reading ‘Xabi Alonso Street’ in honor of the club’s coach.
Alonso made seven changes to his starting lineup for Thursday’s Europa League match against West Ham, benching stars Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, and Alex Grimaldo for the first time this season.
Piero Hincapie, Grimaldo’s replacement, had an early shot saved, but the fit-again Boniface, making his first start since mid-December, put the home side ahead.
With 22 minutes gone, Bremen’s Julian Malatini felled Jonas Hofmann in the area, and the referee pointed to the spot after VAR prompted him to review the touch on the monitor again.
Boniface went up and confidently converted the penalty beyond a hapless Michael Zetterer, sending the home crowd into raptures.
Hofmann was almost the provider again shortly before halftime, when his pass found Amine Adli, who fired against the bar.
Bremen opened the second half brightly, but their chances of spoiling the party were dashed at the 60-minute mark when Boniface found Xhaka, who unleashed a long-range rocket before slapping his badge in front of the delighted home crowd.
Wirtz, who replaced Adli at halftime, matched Xhaka’s effort eight minutes later from nearly the same area on the pitch.
Wirtz added another with seven minutes remaining before completing his hat-trick in the 90th minute to help Leverkusen overcome their nearly men tag in style.
Earlier on Sunday, Ritsu Doan’s 36th-minute goal gave Freiburg a 1-0 victory over Darmstadt, bringing the last-placed hosts closer to immediate relegation.
Darmstadt is winless since October and has only two victories this season, thus the setback leaves them dead last, eight points below second-bottom and 13 points from safety with five games remaining.