Leverkusen looks to end historic year on a high
Xabi Alonso wants Bayer Leverkusen to end its historic Bundesliga-winning year on a high with a win over Freiburg this weekend.
After a tough run of five draws in six Bundesliga games, Leverkusen has won seven matches in a row across all competitions.
If it can beat Freiburg, it will be Alonso's 50th victory in his 75th Bundesliga match, with Pep Guardiola the only coach in the league's history to reach that mark quicker in 61 games.
Leverkusen has the chance to keep the pressure on league-leader Bayern Munich.
Alonso's side ends 2024 having won its first Bundesliga title in April before finishing the 2023-2024 campaign unbeaten, while it also beat Kaiserslautern to win the DFB Pokal in May.
"We are very happy that we could be part of the history of our club," Alonso said.=
"Only the game against Freiburg counts for us at the moment. We want to end the year with a good performance and a good result."
Leverkusen has now won four straight Bundesliga games, as many victories as it managed across the opening 10 matchdays of this season.
It could now win its final Bundesliga game before the winter break for the third successive season for the first time – it most recently lost its past league match of a calendar year in 2021 against Freiburg – 2-1 away.
Alonso attributed Leverkusen's turnaround to defensive improvements.
"In spite of several injuries, we have produced great performances and shown great commitment in the past few matches," he said.
"It was very important for us to become significantly more solid in defence. But we want to carry on and do more, best of all against Freiburg."
