Xabi Alonso and Leverkusen aim to take unbeaten run into 2024. Record-breaker Kane is close behind – Meridian Star
DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Xabi Alonso and his Bayer Leverkusen team have already secured top spot in the Bundesliga for the winter break. Now they need one more good result to take their record unbeaten run into the new year, too.
Even Harry Kane — on the best scoring run ever for a new Bundesliga arrival — hasn’t been able to get Bayern Munich into its usual top spot going into the three-week break.
Leverkusen’s 3-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday was composed and clinical. In fact, the performance had everything that was missing from Bayern’s 5-1 loss to the same opponent the week before. Nigerian striker Victor Boniface was again the star for Leverkusen. He finished with a goal and an assist, and the other goal was scored by Jeremie Frimpong on the rebound from Boniface’s shot.
“It’s been good, a big credit to the coach, the staff, all the players,” Boniface said of Leverkusen’s season so far. “Everyone is giving 100% to achieve something like this and we are really proud of ourselves.”
Leverkusen’s record in all competitions for the 2023-24 season is 21 wins, three draws, no losses. That makes it the only unbeaten team in any of Europe’s five biggest leagues, all the more impressive given that Leverkusen was in the relegation zone when Alonso took charge 14 months ago.
The last test of 2023 before the winter break is at home Wednesday against Bochum, while second-place Bayern visits Wolfsburg. Now that Leverkusen looks like a true title contender, racking up points before the winter break takes on extra importance because Leverkusen could miss up to five players in January and February during the African Cup of Nations.
That includes Boniface, whose strong form for Leverkusen has put him firmly in contention to start for Nigeria. He made his debut for his country in September and has played all five games since.
In Boniface’s absence, Leverkusen will need to lean on Patrik Schick, who has struggled with injuries since his breakout European Championship campaign for the Czech Republic two years ago, but has scored three times in eight games since his return in October. Filling in for the impressive Edmond Tapsoba and Odilon Kossounou in defense will be especially tricky too.
Kane scored twice in Bayern’s 3-0 win over Stuttgart to become the fastest player ever to 20 Bundesliga goals, needing just 14 games to achieve the feat.
Bayern is four points off Leverkusen but has one more game to play because of a game against Union Berlin that was rescheduled for Jan. 24 because of heavy snow.
It’s a measure of Leverkusen’s achievement that Bayern already has 35 points and still isn’t top. At the same stage of the season last year, Bayern had 31 from its opening 14 games and led by four. Only a dramatic slide in the second half of the season allowed Borussia Dortmund to get close to challenging Bayern for the title.
Bayern’s squad won’t face the same impact from international tournaments in the new year, though right-back Noussair Mazraoui is expected to play for Morocco at the African Cup of Nations and central defender Kim Min-jae will be in action for South Korea at the Asian Cup. The return of Matthijs de Ligt to the squad against Stuttgart after a knee injury, even if he was only an unused substitute, is an encouraging sign that Bayern will have cover for Kim.
After the three-week winter break, the Bundesliga resumes Jan. 12 when Bayern hosts Hoffenheim.
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