Page 20 - Expressions '24 - Digital Release
P. 20

Xabi Alonso - from a marvellous player

                                      to a sublime manager






             What  an  amazing  time  to  be  a                  Xabi  Alonso  has  already  made
             football fan! On a dramatic April                 history and has a chance to etch
             afternoon,  Leverkusen  secured                   his  name  into  the  history  books
             their     place      in    history.      An       by  achieving  this  unreal  feat.
             astounding        5-0     victory      over       The story behind this success is
             Werder  Bremen  cemented  their                   worth  reading  about,  and  I  have
             spot  as  Bundesliga  champions                   tried  my  best  to  describe  it  in
             for  the  first  time,  sparking  wild            this article.
             celebrations  in  the  BayArena.

             The  "Neverkusen"  curse  was                     Xabi      Alonso’s       career      as     a
             finally  broken,  replaced  by  a                 footballer  is  nothing  short  of
             sense of vindication. I could see                 brilliant.  He  has  been  a  part  of
             the      entire       stadium        being        world-famous  football  clubs  -
             invaded  by  Leverkusen  fans                     Real  Madrid,  Liverpool,  and
             after the historic win, which was                 Bayern       Munich,       having       won
             mind-blowing.                                     many       major      accolades        with
                                                               them.
             In my opinion, Alonso as well as
             Leverkusen          should       not      be
             content  yet  with  their  current

             title  win,  as  they  still  have  a
             huge  possibility  of  converting
             this league win into a treble - by
             winning  the  Europa  League  as
             well  as  the  DFB  Pokal  (German                He      has       also      won       many
             Cup).                                             international trophies, including
                                                               the FIFA World Cup, as a part of
                                                               the  Spanish  national  football
                                                               team.  There  is  a  preconceived
                                                               notion  that  an  amazing  football
                                                               player        doesn’t         necessarily
                                                               become  a  great  manager,  and
                                                               Alonso  has  proven  that  wrong.

                                                               He  has  led  Leverkusen  to  their
                                                               first-ever  Bundesliga  title  -  a
                                                               league that was being dominated
                                                               by  league  giants  Bayern  Munich
                                                               for more than a decade.



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