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DORTMUND, Germany — Bayer Leverkusen kicked off the new year with an important victory in their quest to defend the Bundesliga title, edging out Borussia Dortmund 3-2 on Friday evening.
The match began with a bang as Nathan Tella found the back of the net just 25 seconds into play, setting the tone for Leverkusen’s performance. The team managed to score with its first three shots, capitalizing on the fact that Dortmund was fielding a makeshift squad due to the absence of six players who were sidelined by illness.
With this victory, Leverkusen climbed to just one point behind league leaders Bayern Munich, who are also dealing with their own injury woes as they prepare to face Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday. The win was especially gratifying for Leverkusen’s coach, Xabi Alonso, who celebrated a success against his former Real Madrid teammate, Nuri Sahin. Meanwhile, Dortmund, positioned sixth prior to the match, could see themselves slipping to tenth depending on the outcomes of other fixtures throughout the weekend.
“We’re obviously very satisfied, very proud. Winning here is extremely hard,” Alonso expressed after the match. “We did it with this discipline and with this good fighting mentality to keep going until the last minute.”
Patrik Schick was instrumental in Leverkusen’s offense, scoring twice in the first half and reaching a remarkable tally of 11 goals in his last seven Bundesliga matches. His strong form has alleviated the pressure on the team following the injury to their key striker, Victor Boniface. “We’re seeing a super Patrik with his great will to improve and we need him,” Alonso praised Schick’s contributions.
Despite controlling 70% of possession, Dortmund struggled to contain Leverkusen’s swift counterattacks due to their weakened defensive lineup. Jamie Gittens’ early goal kept them in contention, and as the match progressed, a careless challenge from Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba resulted in a penalty, which Serhou Guirassy converted in the 79th minute, applying significant pressure on Leverkusen in the closing stages.
Dortmund’s defensive challenges were compounded by an illness outbreak, which kept several key players, including midfielder Emre Can and central defenders Nico Schlotterbeck and Waldemar Anton, off the pitch. Making matters worse, their back four featured Yannik Lührs and Almugera Kabar, both of whom were starting a Bundesliga game for the very first time, while Yan Couto made his fourth league start of the season and Julian Ryerson played in an unfamiliar center back role, usually covering as a right back.
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