Xabi Alonso says it’s an “honour” to work at Bayer Leverkusen after guiding the club to their first ever Bundesliga title.
Appointed in October 2022 when the club was in the relegation zone, Alonso transformed Leverkusen, which is 16 points ahead at the top of the standings with five days remaining. Alonso, who has been linked with jobs at Liverpool and Bayern Munich, has previously insisted he will stay at Leverkusen beyond this season and has spoken of his pride in his position.
“I’m so proud of all the players,” Alonso said after the match, amid celebrations. “For me, it’s an honor to work here.
“Finally, we can say that Bayer Leverkusen are German champions. It’s a huge honor for all of us. It was entirely deserved by the team, by the club, by the supporters. Everyone, everyone departments, were working and fighting for this title, so we are the result of this hard work for many years. It’s a moment to enjoy and it’s a huge success for this club. The first title is always special for everyone. the world, so to be part of this story is incredible.
When asked when he thought Leverkusen would win the championship, the Basque coach pointed to the 3-0 home win over Bayern on February 10 – a result which put them five points clear in the table.
“It could have turned out that they would have been in front of us,” he said. “We didn’t talk about winning the title in the locker room that day, but we all knew it. We were all thinking about it.
“The consistency, the quality of our play over the season, we won this title. It’s not easy and we experienced it every day, which made us believe. It’s an incredible team, all the players worked very hard even the young people were preparing hard. We need a little more time to reflect on what we have achieved, but for now we want to enjoy it.
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