Nigeria international Victor Boniface has promised Bayer Leverkusen fans a treble after the club were crowned Bundesliga champions.
Die Werkself won their first-ever league title on Sunday following a comfortable 5-0 victory over Werder Bremen in front of their home fans at the Bay Arena.
Boniface started his first game for Xabi Alonso’s side since returning from injury and repaid the manager’s faith by scoring the opening goal. The 23-year-old had made three successive substitute appearances after his recovery but was named in the starting line-up for Sunday’s Bundesliga clash.
Boniface converted a penalty to give Leverkusen the lead and also set up Granit Xhaka to make it 2-0. The Nigerian was taken off after the hour mark but Florian Wirtz came on to score a sensational hat-trick to wrap up a comfortable victory.
We have two more finals – Boniface
The win over Werder Bremen took Leverkusen to 79 points, taking them 16 points clear of second-placed Bayern Munich. Die Werkself have also now won the league with five games to spare.
Alonso and his side celebrated their title triumph deep into the night, with thousands of Leverkusen fans swarming the pitch to celebrate with the players. The celebrations were equally wild in the dressing room, as players and officials poured jugs of beer on each other to mark the occasion.
Addressing the fans amidst the fanfare, Boniface thanked them for their constant support throughout the season and promised that the team would strive to deliver the treble.
“We want to say thank you for the support from the beginning of the season. But we still have two more finals to give you guys,” the striker said.
Leverkusen targeting treble after Bundesliga success
Meanwhile, Leverkusen’s impressive season could get even better following their Bundesliga success. Die Werkself are unbeaten in 43 matches in all competitions, which has seen them also reach the final of the DFB Pokal and the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League.
Alonso’s side will face FC Kaiserslautern in the final of the German Cup on May 25, in a game where they are huge favourites to win. Before that, though, Leverkusen would have to first take care of West Ham United in the UEFA Europa League.
The newly-crowned Bundesliga champions defeated David Moyes’ side 2-0 in the first leg and will be hoping to finish the job when they face the Hammers in the return fixture on Thursday. Although Boniface has laid down the gauntlet, Alonso said his side has earned the right to celebrate their title success for the next two days.
The Spaniard, however, noted that the season was not over yet, insisting he wants to keep his strong connection with the players as they aim to annex the treble.
“It's not over yet and we've got great goals we still want to achieve. But we can think about that on Tuesday. Today and tomorrow, we need to celebrate,” Alonso said, as quoted by Daily Star.
“I want to be near the players, talk to them and as someone who played I know what they're feeling. I have empathy and connection with the players, which is important in the dressing room. I try and keep this connection to the team. This trophy belongs to a lot of people and we have to enjoy it… It's perhaps healthy for the Bundesliga and German football that other teams win — and it's a great pleasure that it's us.”
Boniface has now won the league in two different countries, having also been a champion with Bodo/Glimt in the Norwegian top-flight. The Nigerian international also has three league titles to his name now after previously winning two titles with Bodo/Glimt.
