For me am even surprised that they still manage to secure second place in the bundesliga title race because I was expecting most of the teams to have actually gotten used to their style of play and then maybe tackle them because they did something unbelievable last season and repeating such is the hardest task ever for any team so seeing them go head to head with Bayern is quite interesting too.
Maintaining second place in the standings after being able to become champions in the Bundesliga last season is definitely a good effort for Leverkusen because in terms of becoming champions in a row it is always not easy for any team because it always requires maximum effort. I also see Leverkusen trying very hard this season even though it is not certain to become champions because there are still points gaps to be made, but for this season I also salute Munich's efforts with their new coach.
I keep trying to say this, because people are acting as if Leverkusen "failed" by being second place, but that is not the case at all, it was never the case. Being second place is a great achievement for them, specially if they keep being in the top three every year. Bundesliga doesn't have many teams that are consistently in top three, most teams change those positions.
So if we have Bayern Munich possibly be first place every year, then Leverkusen could be a team that is second or third every year. Doing that would be such a huge achievement, and yet not many people are doing it, so it is not going to be a big deal at all, we need to be considering it a bit bigger and do it very well in the end as well to get them higher.