AFP – Hours after sealing Bayer Leverkusen’s maiden Bundesliga title win, coach Xabi Alonso told thousands of delirious fans “we want more”, laying down a marker in pursuit of a remarkable treble.
“We want more. We want the (German) Cup, we want Europa League,” the 42-year-old said over the stadium PA to thousands of Leverkusen fans after his side 43rd straight match without defeat.
With a German Cup final meeting with second-division Kaiserslautern already booked for May 25, Leverkusen’s next task is tonight’s trip to London to face West Ham in their Europa League quarter-final second leg.
Alonso’s side hold a 2-0 lead after the first leg, meaning anything other than a stunning loss to David Moyes’ men will keep their treble dreams alive.
Sunday’s 5-0 win over Werder Bremen not only broke Bayern Munich’s 11-year stranglehold on the German top-flight title, it flushed Leverkusen’s unwanted ‘Neverkusen’ tag for good.
With two major titles in the club’s history before Sunday, Alonso’s side can more than double their tally by completing the treble. This season, Alonso has repeatedly said the club needed to be patient, even as the Bundesliga title grew more and more likely.
On Sunday, he pushed talk of tomorrow’s West Ham match away, saying: “Now is the moment to celebrate and enjoy it all.”
If overturning a 2-0 deficit seems like a mountain to climb for West Ham, the stats speak even less in their favour.
Alonso’s side have only failed to score once in 43 games this season and have laid on 123 goals at the other end. West Ham have only kept one clean sheet in their past 18 fixtures – although that did come against German opposition in their 5-0 drubbing of Freiburg in the last-16 second leg at the London Stadium.
