Bayer Leverkusen Face Derby Rivals Cologne With Xabi Alonso Revolution In Full Swing

Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen are dreaming of a Bundesliga title challenge, just a year since the Spaniard took over as coach with the club languishing near the relegation zone. Alonso joined Leverkusen on October 5, 2022, with the club having won just one of their opening eight league fixtures and having been dumped out of the German Cup. Leverkusen, who have never won the Bundesliga, sit top of the table 12 months on, having won five of their first six games, only dropping points in a pulsating 2-2 draw at champions Bayern Munich.

Alonso won three Bundesliga titles, one La Liga title, two Champions League crowns, the World Cup and two European Championships as a player.

Hopes are high that he will help Leverkusen, who lost in the Europa League semi-finals last season, shake their 'Neverkusen' moniker.

Despite strong financial backing and a scouting network which has repeatedly unearthed some of the best German and global talents, Leverkusen's trophy cabinet remains sparse, with just one German Cup and one UEFA Cup title.

The club's nadir came in 2002, when Leverkusen found themselves in Champions League and German Cup finals, as well as atop the Bundesliga table with two matches remaining, before finishing runners-up in all three competitions.

"A lot has happened this year, mostly good things," Alonso said on Wednesday.

"It's been a very, very good experience so far, but I don't want to look back, I want to look forward."

Leverkusen's Rhine Derby opponents on Sunday, Cologne, have endured a horror start to the season, losing five and drawing one despite some typically dogged performances under firebrand coach Steffen Baumgart.

One of several fiery rivalries in Germany's Ruhr region, things boiled over between