Have teams found the secret to beating Bayer Leverkusen?
After conceding just 24 goals en route to an unbeaten Bundesliga title last season, Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen have already let in nine goals in four games in the league this term. Have their domestic rivals finally unlocked the Leverkusen code?
If that doesn’t sound like much of a difference, try this: Leverkusen shipped an average of 0.70 goals per game in the Bundesliga in 2023/24. This season, it’s 2.25.
It certainly has Granit Xhaka worried enough to describe their latest goal-filled encounter – a rip-roaring 4-3 win over Wolfsburg on Saturday – as “a wake-up call for all of us”.
Watch: Leverkusen 4-3 Wolfsburg - highlights
“Our defence was our strength last season,” said Xhaka. “Now we’ve let in nine after four matches. That shouldn’t happen. We can’t keep conceding as many goals as we have been.”
Indeed, Leverkusen have not kept a clean sheet in the league this team. A 3-2 win over Borussia Mönchengladbach was followed by a 3-2 defeat against Leipzig and then victories over Hoffenheim (4-1) and Wolfsburg.
So what’s going on?
Are Die Werkself conceding on the counter as teams get wise to their all-out attacking approach? Or is there some new tactical detail that the opposition are exploiting? Or maybe it’s a case of Leverkusen suffering from second-season syndrome as they struggle to reach and maintain the standards set last term.
Watch: Get set for Goaltoberfest!
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Looking at the goals, there is no wider tactical trend to be recognised. Two of the nine conceded have been long-range stunners, from Leipzig’s Loïs Openda and Wolfsburg’s Mattias Svanberg, driving forward into space just outside the penalty area and being allowed to shoot.
Incidentally, defensive midfielder Robert Andrich was missing in both those games as Alonso rotated his side, with both Openda’s and Svanberg’s goals stemming from areas he usually patrols.
Furthermore, only one of the nine conceded has been from a set piece (Sebastiaan Bornauw’s effort for Wolfsburg), with the remaining six being a case of the defence struggling to deal with and clear simple passes or crosses into the box (three from the left, three from the right).
The only difference between this season and last – bearing in mind there’s still a small sample size in 2024/25 – is when Leverkusen concede their goals.
Watch: How Alonso has got the better of Bayern so far
Last season they shipped 25 percent of their Bundesliga goals (six of 24) in the first 15 minutes of the second half. That was followed by 20.83 percent in the 15 minutes immediately preceding half-time (five goals) and 20.83 percent in the opening 15 minutes.
This time around, Alonso’s men have let in almost half (44.44 percent) in the 15 minutes before the interval, with all four of those goals coming after the 37th minute.
Is it a lack of concentration? Complacency slipping in, perhaps?
Xhaka believes he knows. “It’s all in our heads,” said the 31-year-old.
“It’s not as if the opposition are tearing us apart, playing nice link-up play and then scoring. We’re just not making our runs well enough. We’re not aggressive enough and we’re giving the opposition too much space. The goals we’re conceding are too easy.
“It’s nothing to do with the system we’re playing, believe me,” he continued. “It’s about whether we want to go the extra yard or not.”
Watch: Jamal Musiala vs. Florian Wirtz: A duel of midfield magicians
Alonso, for his part, described his team’s play as “too crazy” against Wolfsburg. “Everything was too hectic, both in defence and in attack. That’s not what we want.”
The tactician is also self-critical enough to reflect on his own role in the matter. “It wasn’t just the players – there were things I could have done better too,” said the 42-year-old. “I know what I didn’t do well enough... but I’m not going so say what that is.”
If history is anything to go by though, Alonso will make his tweaks clearly and concisely – and right in time for Saturday’s showdown away to Bayern Munich.
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