Leverkusen win the title: Alonso’s achievement ranks among the great seasons

The Bundesliga season turned into a procession but not for the team that had won the previous 11 titles. Bayer Leverkusen have blown away the competition to win the trophy for the first time in the club’s history - and without losing a single game.

Keep this up for the remaining five fixtures and Leverkusen will break Bayern's record of a decade ago for the most points ever accumulated in a Bundesliga season. It illustrates that even Bayern at their very best could not compete with this.

It is an extraordinary accomplishment, a testament to a team in tune with one another, a masterclass on and off the pitch. Remarkable recruitment and quality coaching have combined to provide the platform for these players to ascend to greatness.

Alex Grimaldo must rank among the finest free transfer signings ever made. The early-season goals of Victor Boniface propelled them and everyone followed. There is the leadership of Granit Xhaka and the glorious gifts of the precocious Florian Wirtz.

But at the centre of this story is Xabi Alonso.

To explain how all this happened - and how improbable it is that it has happened - it is worth considering where Leverkusen were when Alonso was appointed in October of last season. This was a team that was one place off the bottom of the Bundesliga table.

Speaking to sporting director Simon Rolfes in his office at the Bay Arena not long afterwards, he painted a picture of the mood at the time. "The starting point was a team without trust, players without trust. It was a difficult situation. A really difficult situation for Xabi."

Eighteen months on and Leverkusen are the best team in Germany. Given that, 43 games into the campaign, they remain unbeaten in all competitions, it is no longer outlandish to