He took over Leverkusen as second-to-last, led them to the European Cup, the Europa League semi-finals and now to the top of the table. Is Xabi Alonso now also causing a sensation at his former club in Munich?
Simon Rolfes was the undisputed transfer champion of the Bundesliga this summer.
Bayer Leverkusen’s sports director has greatly strengthened the team both at the top and at the top and, according to club boss Fernando Carro, “always signed our top candidates”: “That doesn’t happen very often.”
Success came quickly. At the start of the 4th matchday, Leverkusen will head into the duel between the nine-point starters against champions FC Bayern Munich as league leaders on Friday (8.30 p.m./DAZN). But without diminishing Rolfes’ work, these transfer successes could only succeed on a broad level because he had a very special joker up his sleeve: Xabi Alonso, the former world and European champion and current Bayer coach. It’s not for nothing that Rolfes calls him a “draft horse” and Carro a “blessing”. Because his name alone opened doors, his aura alone and the prospect of being able to train under him convinced even the most well-known professionals.
Alonso as a coach: “Then it does something to you”
“You look up to him,” said Granit It was a quick decision.” National player Jonas Hofmann, who was brought in from Mönchengladbach, said: “When a personality like that suddenly sits in front of you and you know that he might be your new coach, then it does something to you.” And striker Victor Boniface, who is currently the league’s top scorer, said: “It’s very good to have Xabi as a coach.”
And of course the biggest clubs in the world have been watching him for a long time. Especially two that he played for himself: Real Madrid and Bayern, for whom he played from 2014 to 2017. It is sympastr.c1514036236dd90216ae532183655d55.css” fetchpriority=”high”>
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
