Xabi Alonso saluted Bayer Leverkusen’s professionalism during their 5-1 defeat at Freiburg.
The reigning Bundesliga champions brought down the curtain on a memorable 2024 in dominant fashion at the BayArena.
Patrik Schick scored four times while Florian Wirtz was also on target as second-placed Leverkusen cut the gap to leaders Bayern Munich back to four points heading into the winter break.
Alonso started his 50th win as a Bundesliga coach after just 75 matches, with only Pep Guardiola reaching the half-century mark (61) in fewer games.
Nevertheless, the Leverkusen boss was adamant that the competition was not as easy for his side as the scoreline suggested.
50 – Xabi Alonso has won 50 of his 75 games as a Bundesliga coach to date – only Pep Guardiola has his 50th Bundesliga win as a manager (after 61 games). the boss #B04SCF pic.twitter.com/rZ4xJMJqD3
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) December 21, 2024
“The result may have been spectacular and Patrick scored four goals, but the game was not as easy as it seemed,” he told reporters. “We had a good opponent, and we had to prepare our actions intelligently.
“When a striker scores four goals, you can’t complain. Patrick also does a lot off the ball and when he does it well, that’s why he scores. He helps the team and they create chances for him.
“It was a very important win for us today. We wanted to continue our consistency and go into the break feeling good. We managed that. We will continue to attack in the new year.
“It gives everyone a good feeling. We have big ambitions to continue fighting for our goals in 2025 and we want to achieve a lot together.”
