Nigeria striker Victor Boniface and his Bayer Leverkusen teammates will have to wait a little bit to celebrate a famous Bundesliga win after their nearest rivals Bayern Munich won on Saturday.
Xabi Alonso and his troops are 13 points clear of second-placed Bayern and only need one more win to clinch the title. They were likely casting an eye on the Bayern game for an early present before their own game on Sunday.
Bayern Munich were not going to relinquish their crown without a fight as they saw off a spirited Cologne side 2-0 at the Allianz Arena.
After a goalless first half with glances from Leverkusen, Raphael Guerreiro scored for the Bavarians in the 65th minute before veteran striker Thomas Muller made sure of the points with a strike in added time of the second half.
Three points gained for the Bavarians, and Leverkusen’s title party was postponed for at least 24 hours.
Leverkusen's charge to the title
When the season started, many did not tip Leverkusen to win the title as Bayern and Dortmund, perennial rivals, were once again tipped to go head to head.
However, Xabi Alonso had other ideas as he assembled a crack squad that would eventually mount a title challenge and arguably the best Bundesliga performance by a team in 30 years.
The acquisition of Nathan Tella, Alex Grimaldo, Jonas Hofmann , Granit Xhaka and Nigerian striker Victor Boniface made the team stronger and more exciting to watch than the previous season.
With 28 matches played, Leverkusen are top of the Bundesliga table with 76 points, 13 clear of second-placed Bayern Munich.
They have also scored 69 goals this season, the second best in the Bundesliga (behind Bayern), and also have the best defence, conceding only 19 goals.
But the best part is Leverkusen have not lost a game all season and have eclipsed Bayern’s record of 33 games unbeaten run set in the 2020/2021 season.
Victor Boniface is key man
Xabi Alonso scored a masterstroke of a transfer when he got Boniface from Belgian side Union Saint-Gilloise.
The Nigerian settled in quickly and got an assist for Leverkusen’s first goal of the season against RB Leipzig before scoring a brace against Dortmund the following week to open his goal account for the club.
Since then, he’s notched up 17 goals and nine assists in all competitions for Bayer Leverkusen despite missing three months of action due to injury. His latest goal being a brilliant header against West Ham on Thursday in the quarter-final of the Europa League, securing a 2-0 win over the English side.
Despite Bayern’s win, it's just a little delay as the inevitable will definitely happen soon, and it can be as soon as Sunday if Bayer Leverkusen can see off Werder Bremen.
It will cap a wonderful season for Victor Boniface, his compatriot Nathan Tella, and their Bayer Leverkusen teammates.
