Leverkusen want to end historic year on a high, says Alonso

Xabi Alonso wants Bayer Leverkusen to end their historic Bundesliga-winning year on a high with a win over Freiburg on Saturday.

Following a tough run of five draws in six Bundesliga games, Leverkusen have since won four consecutive league games and seven victories in a row across all competitions.

If they can beat Freiburg on Saturday, it will be Alonso’s 50th victory in his 75th Bundesliga match, with Pep Guardiola the only coach in the league’s history to reach that mark quicker (61 games).

Leverkusen have the chance to keep the pressure on league-leaders Bayern Munich, who could be seven points clear at the top of the standings as they face in-form RB Leipzig on Friday.

Alonso’s side end 2024 having won their first Bundesliga title in April before finishing the 2023-24 campaign unbeaten, while they also beat Kaiserslautern to win the DFB Pokal in May.

“We are very happy that we could be part of the history of our club,” Alonso told reporters on Friday.

“Only the game against Freiburg counts for us at the moment. We want to end the year with a good performance and a good result.”

Let’s go Leverkusen! One more time! pic.twitter.com/xjouWR6feR

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) December 20, 2024

Leverkusen have now won four straight Bundesliga games, as many victories as they managed across the opening 10 matchdays of this season.

They could now win their final Bundesliga game before the winter break for the third successive season for the first time – they most recently lost their last league match of a calendar year in 2021 against Freiburg (2-1 away).

Alonso attributed Leverkusen’s turnaround to defensive improvements.

“In spite of several injuries, we have produced great performances and shown great commitment in the last few matches,” he said.

“It was very important for us to become significantly more solid in defence. But we want to carry on and do more, best of all against Freiburg.”