OFFICIAL: Victor Boniface SCORES As Bayer Leverkusen Emerge CHAMPIONS of The Bundesliga For The First-Time Ever.
Victor Boniface scores in Bayer Leverkusen's 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen at the Bay Arena on Sunday, as they emerge CHAMPIONS of the Bundesliga for the first time ever in their 120-year history.
Victor Boniface justified his first start of this year after a long injury layoff when he slotted home a penalty after 25 minutes of action, a rocket from former Arsenal star Granit Xhaka and a thrilling second-half hat-trick from homegrown starlet Florian Wirtz , wrapped up a 5-0 thriller over Werder Bremen.
The pitch invasion after the final goal prompted the final whistle from the referee.
With five games to spare, Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen, who are yet to lose a match in all competitions this season, now lie 16 points ahead of second-placed Bayern Munich who have won the last 11 Bundesliga titles, and the former champions defeated struggling Cologne 2-0 at home on Saturday.
Having broken Bayern's German record of 32 games without a defeat in all competitions in February. Bayer Leverkusen did not just also break their 11-year stranglehold on the German top flight, but are positioned as serious contenders for further silverware in the DFB-Pokal and UEFA Europa League.
They have a chance to win a famous treble when they face FC Kaiserslautern (FCK) in the DFB-Pokal final on 25 May 2024 at Olympiastadion stadium, Berlin city, Germany. They had also gotten a 2-0 scoreline at home in the quarter-final first leg tie against West Ham last week Thursday.
Leverkusen are unbeaten in 29 league matches (24 wins, 4 draws, 0 defeat, 74 goals scored, 19 conceded), and 43 games unbeaten in all competitions this season under Alonso, a team that was battling relegation when he took over 18 months ago.
The Spaniard took over as coach in October 2022. The club was second-bottom at the time after eight rounds of last season, and eventually led them to a sixth-placed finish.
This is the first time in Die Werkself’s 119-year history that the club will finish top of the German first division, having ended as runners-up on five different occasions.
In the space of six seasons around the turn of the century, Leverkusen finished as runners-up four times. In 2000, they threw away the title despite only needing a draw in their final game, against SpVgg Unterhaching.
Die #Winnerkusen-Kabinenparty! 😍
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04fussball) April 14, 2024
#DeutscherMeisterSVB | #Werkself pic.twitter.com/0ge5hMG5T6
It is well deserved honour, for Boniface who played a major role in this unique achievement.
Despite the injury setback that kept him out of AFCON for the Super Eagles, Victor Boniface has scored 11 goals and nine assists in 18 appearances for Leverkusen this season, and 18 goals across all competitions making him the club's top scorer.
The 23-year-old striker also has five goals and two assists in six Europa League games, and in the DFB-Pokal, Boniface has netted two goals in his only two appearances in that tournament.
Nathan Tella also featured for the first 62 minutes in today's encounter. The former Southampton man scored five goals and added two assists in 20 games for Leverkusen, only five of which were in the starting lineup.
Boniface and Tella therefore, becomes the first Nigerians since Sunday Oliseh to win the Bundesliga title.
Pascal Ojigwe won the Bundesliga title with FC Kaiserslautern in 1998, and Sunday Oliseh repeated the feat with Borussia Dortmund in 2002.
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