Quote from: karabiber on June 22, 2024, 09:32:20 AM

Quote from: Asiska02 on June 21, 2024, 05:51:38 PM

Bayern Leverkusen cannot just come in their first season in the champions league after so many years to dominate and win the game. They need to exert some kind of force that will not be stopped by any other team. They are the best in the Bundesliga and that doesn’t mean they’ll be the best in the champions league also. There are level to this, and I don’t think they can be able to win it straight up or even get past the semifinals if at all they’re able to make it that far in the competition.

Xabi Alonso is a great coach in the Bundesliga and Europa League, but for the biggest competition being the champions league, they’re never the ones to that will dominate it so soon. They need to show that consistency and keep coming back yearly to get a good grasp of the whole competition. Just after that, they can now confidently fight for the competition’s trophy in the coming years.

I'm certainly not underestimating the success of Bayer Leverkusen. 51 game unbeaten streak and undefeated championship title are not easy achievements. But if we consider that their toughest and most serious opponent this season is Bayern Munich and Bayern's poor form this season, Leverkusen's success does not seem like a dream achievement. Because Bayern Munich were really bad this season. They even finished third in the league behind Stuttgart.

Leverkusen couldn't dominate in the league against important opponents. In the Uefa Europa League, they made it out of the easiest group of the tournament with 6/6. In the last 16 round, they eliminated their rival Karabakh with a goal after the 90th minute. They eliminated their closest rivals West Ham in the quarterfinals and Roma in the semifinals with difficulty. They made it to the final without a loss and lost to their first serious and formidable opponent Atalanta in the final. A brisk and disciplined Gasperini Atalanta extinguished Leverkusen's dreams. Leverkusen were complacent throughout the season and they hit the first big rock very heavily. This deceptive success made them complacent. I don't think they will have a successful season in the Champions League.

I know there are a lot of matches in which they have been able to win in the 90th minute or on the injury time. At this point, I will say it was just not The Black and Reds being lucky. Because they were doing it on a consistent basis, right? And at the end of the day, three points is what matters. Being unbeatable throughout the whole season is an achievement in itself. But I never thought it was going to break at the last game that they would have played.

By the way, Black and Reds were unbeaten throughout the whole season in the Bundesliga. It’s just that they lost the last match that they have played in the Europa League competition.

To say that Leverkusen are not going to have a successful Champions League competition is probably not a very dumb statement. But the Champions League competition is obviously far more harder compared to the average Bundesliga matches or the Europa League competition. So it is probably not expected from Xabi Alonso's army to actually even reach the semifinals of the Champions League competition. But it is not going to be a big surprise if they do.