Every so often, something happens in European football that makes the rest of the continent sit up and take notice. This year, that thing was Bayer Leverkusen.
When we profiled their coach Xabi Alonso in our September 2023 issue, and then placed the focus on the club itself in March, it was with a degree of scepticism as much as admiration. As well as praising the Basque coach and his team, we wanted to pinpoint exactly when and how the wheels would fall off. After all, in a league that had been won by the same team 11 years in a row, it was surely only a matter of time before they were reeled in by Bayern Munich. The idea that Leverkusen might go all the way to the Bundesliga title still seemed unlikely; that they might do it unbeaten, while also sealing a league-cup double and reaching a Europa League final, seemed like the imaginings of a fantasist.
Yet at almost every turn, Leverkusen proved their doubters wrong. Do not let defeat to Atalanta in the Europa League final detract from the facts: Leverkusen have just produced one of the most remarkable seasons in the history of European football, and Alonso one of the finest coaching performances.
We’ll have a full review of their incredible 2023-24 campaign – plus a full round-up of Europe’s other biggest leagues, as well as the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League – in next month’s issue, but it would have been remiss of us not to give them a tip of the ha
