Donaueschingen (AFP)
Bayer Leverkusen will be looking to repeat their impressive form after winning the Bundesliga and German Cup without suffering a single defeat last season when they open their campaign against Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday.
Many have tipped Leverkusen to become the first team other than Bayern Munich to win the league title back-to-back since Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund in 2012.
While Bayern have spent big in their bid to climb back to the top, and both Dortmund and Leipzig have made exciting summer signings, Leverkusen’s Nigerian striker Nathan Tella has urged his team to have another amazing season.
“There are no rules preventing us from doing anything like that, it’s just up to us and how we implement our plans during the season,” he said.
“There is no reason why we cannot defend the title,” Tella told AFP on the sidelines of Leverkusen’s training camp in the Black Forest village of Donaueschingen.
“We’ve seen Bayern do it for so many years, why can’t we do something similar? There’s no limit to what we can achieve. Last year, nobody believed in us and at the end of the season we were unbeaten champions.”
“Being part of this team, anything is possible,” he continued.
Tella’s optimistic words are in stark contrast to the huge criticism Leverkusen has been subjected to for consistently failing to win the title despite finishing runners-up in five seasons.
Leverkusen also started the new season exceptionally well, and on Saturday they managed to win the German Super Cup title at the expense of Stuttgart, the runner-up last season, after Czech striker Patrik Schick scored the equaliser in the 88th minute, before Leverkusen won on penalties.
Scoring late goals was a prominent feature of Leverkusen’s previous season, including their run to the Europa League final.
Leverkusen set up their summer training camp at the same stadium where Spain opened their Euro 2024 campaign a few weeks ago.
Asked if Leverkusen could benefit from Spain’s magic, Tella said his team did not need any outside help.
“No, we have our own magic, to be honest. Last season was the magician,” he explained, referring to Leverkusen’s young and brilliant midfielder Florian Wirtz.
Despite the interest of many prominent European clubs, Leverkusen managed to retain Wirtz’s services this summer, in addition to the vast majority of its players.
Most importantly, the Spanish coach Xabi Alonso remained at the helm of the team, after he renewed his contract with the team for another season, ignoring the interest of many European football giants such as Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern itself.
Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka told AFP that success was what motivated Alonso to stay.
“He wants to prove that we can do it again. It was a great thing for the players, he believes in this team, and he believes that this team can do the same this year as well,” he explained.
Regardless of its financial and economic advantage, Bayern’s long dominance of the Bundesliga has not hidden its constant desire to improve its level even when it is at the top.
Therefore, Leverkusen is fully aware of the size of the challenge ahead to retain its title.
Alonso, who has won several titles as a player, said the team’s impressive form last year “may not be enough” for this season.
“We have a lot of basics, we need to add something, update it, integrate other elements. We have to evolve and improve,” said the young coach.
Leverkusen midfielder Xhaka, who like Tella arrived at Leverkusen from England before last season, was Alonso’s voice on the pitch, playing more minutes than any other outfield player in the team last season.
“I agree with the coach because if there is one person who knows, he is the one who knows the most,” Xhaka told AFP. “If you want to improve year after year, you have to improve every year. You don’t just need to look at the good things, you need to look at the bad things as well.”
Tella joined Leverkusen after scoring 17 goals to help Burnley gain promotion to the Premier League.
Last season he scored seven goals and provided six assists as Leverkusen battled for three titles before earning a call-up to the Nigerian national team.
Tella pointed out that the club has set its sights on achieving further development.
“That’s something we want to aspire to,” Tella said. “The coach said we’re not there yet, which means we have something to work on to improve. The standards we set last year were so high, almost unbelievable, we want to get close to them again, if not exceed them.”
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