If Xabi Alonso does have any lingering thoughts of what might have been, he has a funny way of showing it.
As the new European football season chugs into gear, one of the most sought-after properties in management continues to happily ply his trade far from the hoopla of the sport’s noisiest clubs.
Not that the Bayer Leverkusen of Alonso can exactly ease anywhere under the radar any more. They are, after all, defending a record-breaking unbeaten run.
On Saturday night they won the German Super Cup for the first time when they beat Stuttgart, last season’s Bundesliga runners up, on penalties after a pulsating game at a rowdy BayArena.
It was the third trophy Alonso has delivered in 13 months, which amounts to more than half of all the trophies the club have won in their history. It was the 52nd match in a row in which German opposition have failed to beat them, a run stretching back to May 2023.
They won the Bundesliga by 17 points last season, went on to win the domestic double, and were only denied a treble at the last by Atalanta in the Europa League final.
Yet even with all those gongs, Leverkusen manage to avoid the noise that follows Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund around, let alone the sides from Europe’s other major leagues. Keeping hold of their 42-year-old head coach when the vultures have been circling means Leverkusen could be a match for any of Europe’s finest this season.
Alonso was clearly in his element as his side started out their attempt to reprise one of football’s most remarkable campaigns. He was happy to be back at the coalface.
His trademark calm even lapsed briefly as his side threatened to lose their poise against a Stuttgart side with whom they drew twice last season.
New signing Martin Terrier was shown a straight red for a dangerous tackle, 37 minutes into his Leverkusen debut. Stuttgart dominated possession and hit the post three times. Amid it all, Alonso was shown a yellow card for venting his frustrations at the officials.
He still had a clear-headed masterplan, though. “Even though we went 2-1 down in the second half, we were patient and planned to only go full throttle and press for the last 15 minutes,” Alonso said.
And it worked. Just as they did so many times en route to their unprecedented glories last season, when they earned the nickname “Bayer Laterkusen”, they levelled in the last minute through Patrik Schick. The fact they then went on to win on penalties felt destined.
“What we did at the end of the game with 10 players and scoring the late equaliser, we showed once again how big our spirit is,” Alonso said.
In his budding managerial career to date, Alonso has never been in a rush to get to his next appointment. He started out in the third tier of Spanish football with Real Sociedad B. When he got them promoted there was plenty of interest in him from top-flight clubs, most notably in Germany, but he opted to sign on for another year and continue the project he had started.
The same has happened in Leverkusen, even though those now courting him are among the biggest names in world football. At the end of March, Alonso publicly stated he would remain at Leverkusen to see out his contract.
That warded off speculation that he would be bound for either of his former clubs, Liverpool or Bayern Munich, who were in the market for replacements for Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel respectively. Another – Real Madrid – were also said to be a potential destination, despite the ongoing success of Carlo Ancelotti.
“My main concern was whether the discussions of the newspapers would influence our team [for the rest of the] season,” said Simon Rolfes, Leverkusen’s managing director of sport.
“It is one thing for it to happen in the summer – maybe a coach or player could leave you. But March, April and May was much more important than June or July for our club because we had the feeling that if we don’t win the German championship now, when will we win it?
“In conversations with him, I always had a good feeling. OK, it was not helpful that every four weeks a coach from his former teams left, or was going to leave their clubs, but the conversations were quite open, transparent and trustful.
“I think he appreciates the club culture and the way we work here.”
Be that as it may, Alonso will be bound for pastures new at some stage, as Fernando Carro, Leverkusen’s chief executive, acknowledges.
“It would be very important that [he] stays longer, but we know how football works,” Carro said.
“We have to be prepared as a club for a time after Xabi Alonso. It doesn't matter if it's 2025, 2026, 2027, whenever. We as a club have to be prepared for a time after Xabi because he will not stay here forever. This is clear.
“But for this year, it was extremely important and we hope it will be the same next year. After a year of reaching such a level, it was important to keep players, and it was important to keep him.
“Of course, he is the key guy that everyone respects. He has shown how ambitious he is, how humble he is, how experienced he is, and how well he can deal with the with the locker room.
“You work with him every day, you know how he thinks, how he works, so it has been very, very important for us [to retain him].”
