Tim Cooper
Champions League focus: Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal
Here's the brilliant Tim Cooper with his Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal preview as the Champions League clash in northern Germany looms large
No one books a holiday break in Leverkusen. Unless they're going to a football match - as we are on Wednesday.
It's in the heartland of Germany's industrial region, the Ruhr, sandwiched between Dusseldorf and Koln/Cologne by the mighty Rhine River.Home to the Bayer chemical giant and the team they own, it's about as alluring as the place it's twinned with in England... Bracknell.
It doesn't even have its own airport, so fans going to the game will most likely fly into Dusseldorf (40 miles to the north) or Cologne (25 miles to the south) - both a short hop by train, coach or cab to the Bay Arena.
Cologne is the more interesting of the two: the fourth-biggest city in Germany (bigger than nearby Bonn, the old capital of West Germany), it boasts a medieval cathedral that is the tallest in the world, which is well worth a look.
But if you're not bothered about Gothic architecture you'll probably be drawn to the nearby strip of riverside beerhouses ("brauhauser") that brew their own Kolsch lager, drunk on vast outdoor terraces, usually accompanied by vast plates of rustic food like pork knuckle.
As for Leverkusen itself, it's half an hour away and there's not a lot to do there except go to the game, unless you count an art gallery in a big castle with a moat, and a Japanese garden that might be nice for a morning-after hangover.
The main attraction, unless you're in pharmaceuticals, is the football team.
We've got a lot in common with Bayer Leverkusen, such eternal bridesmaids of the Bundesliga that their nickname is Neverkusen, after multiple seasons ending as runners-up to serial champions Bayern Munich.
But they're in a period of transition.
By late 2022 the famous club was doing a Tottenham, sliding inexorably towards an unlikely relegation.
They took drastic action, appointing not some unknown Croatian who's been sacked by nine different clubs (unless it's ten by the time you read this) but by Xavi Alonso, in his first ever managerial role.
It was a gamble - but one that paid immediate dividends.
The former Liverpool midfielder guided them out of danger and into the safety of sixth place. But his work had only just begun.
The following season they were crowned Bundesliga champions for the first time in their history, ending Bayern's 11-year run, and finished the season unbeaten in any competition.
Having already won the domestic cup and the Meistershale, they were on course for the treble when they played their 52nd game, the Europa League final - only to lose 3-0 to Atalanta.
Last season the Double winners suffered a slump as they lost their title to - inevitably - Bayern, who also knocked them out of the Champions League.
Despite a second-place finish, they were a distant 13 points behind Bayern, but that stat is a little misleading: they only lost one more game than the Bavarians, falling short mostly because they drew 12 of their 34 games.
Sounds familiar? Yes, it's a little like us last season, when we drew 14 of our 38.
Alonso, who had stayed on for a year after being wooed by every big club - including Liverpool and Manchester United - then left to replace Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid: an offer too good to be refused (even if it didn't work out in the end), and Leverkusen started this season in disarray.
They replaced Alonso with freshly-fired Man United manager Erik Ten Hag - a strange decision that looked even stranger when he was fired after just two matches (an opening-day defeat and a draw) and replaced with Kaspar Hjulmand.
Meanwhile, Leverkusen fans found themselves supporting almost an entirely different team after the club made wholesale changes to their squad, gutting every part of the team and disposing of every key player from the previous two seasons.
Over the summer they transferred an astonishing 22 players out of the club, including arguably their best three - Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka and Jonathan Tah - as well as Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool, Amine Adli to Bournemouth, and Ecuadorian defender Piero Hincapie to us (initially on loan).
Incoming signings, of whom there were 18, were far more modest - the club made a £50 million profit in the summr 0 including goalkeeper Mark Flekken from Brentford and defender Jarell Quansah from Liverpool.
After that less-than-ideal start, they've had a poor domestic season. They currently sit sixth, a very distant 23 points behind Bayern, who have scored more than twice as many goals.
Their leading scorer is the Czech striker Patrick Schick, with 13 goals in 32 games in all competitions, followed by Cameroon international Christian Kofane with six, the same as US midfielder Malik Tillman, a summer signing from PSV.
Their Champions League campaign has been a mixed bag: in the league phase they began with draws against Copenhagen and PSV, followed by a 7-2 thrashing at their own Bay Arena by champions PSG. But they bounced back to beat Benfica 1-0 in Lisbon and Manchester City 2-0 at the Etihad in November, before a 2-2 draw at home to Newcastle.
Despite a 2-0 defeat in Greece to Olympiacos, a 3-0 victory over Villareal saw them progress - just - to the play-offs, where they were reunited with the Greeks, winning 2-0 away followed by a goalless draw in the return leg in Germany.
So what should we expect?
We ought to progress smoothly to the next round to meet either surprise package Bodo/Glimt or another reunion with Sporting - an interesting potential prospect which could see Gyokeres against his replacement, Luis Suarez (no, not that one), who has scored 30 goals in 38 games since moving to Lisbon.
But, as we discovered with our edgy cup win at Mansfield, it's always a mistake to underestimate a team, especially one that is clearly in transition and the signs are that Leverkusen are starting to find their feet after all those changes.
But we've only lost three games out of 45 this season and we ought to be too strong.
Auf geht's, ihr Schützen!
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