Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso makes history with latest Bayern Munich scalp
Bayer Leverkusen's Xabi Alonso has made history as the first head coach in German football to go unbeaten in his first five games against Bayern Munich.
Leverkusen won 1-0 in Munich in the 2024/25 DFB Cup round of 16 on Tuesday, thanks to Nathan Tella's second-half header.
It was the second time Leverkusen have beaten the record champions under the former Bayern, Real Madrid and Liverpool midfielder. The other three fixtures - including in this season's Bundesliga - have ended in draws.
The result means Alonso supplants Ernst Happel - who went unbeaten in his first four matches against Bayern as Hamburg coach in the 1980s - in the record books.
The victory was also Alonso’s ninth in his first nine cup games, a stunning record that’s only been bettered this millennium by Louis van Gaal and Pep Guardiola, who both recorded 10 straight wins in the competition at the helm of Bayern.
After romping to an unbeaten domestic double last season, Leverkusen will be hot favourites to defend their cup crown. If they success, Die Werkself will become only the eighth team to win back-to-back cups after Karlsruhe, Bayern, Eintracht Frankfurt, Cologne, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Schalke and RB Leipzig.
Alonso - who also lifted the DFB Cup as a player with Bayern in 2015/16 - would also put himself up on a plinth of only 14 coaches to win multiple cups, with the joint record being three.
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