BERLIN : Surprise Bundesliga leaders Bayer Leverkusen are counting on the efficiency of midfielder Alejandro Grimaldo to help them stretch their winning run in 2024 with a home victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Rhine derby on Saturday.
Xabi Alonso’s team have won their two league games this year and have made it 12 wins in their last 14 Bundesliga matches to take control of the title race on 48 points and open up a four-point gap over second-placed champions Bayern Munich.
Leverkusen have so far found attacking solutions despite the absence of their top scorer Victor Boniface, who was ruled out for months following surgery for an adductor muscle injury earlier in January during the winter break.
One of the keys to Leverkusen’s success this year has been Spaniard Grimaldo, whose skills and versatility have seen him orchestrate their midfield while also scoring.
The 28-year-old has bagged seven goals while also setting up a further eight for his team mates, including their last-gasp winner in a 3-2 success at RB Leipzig last week when he floated a corner to the far post for Piero Hincapie to slot in.
Striker Patrik Schick, who is expected to start once more, is set to make his 100th Bundesliga appearance and could score his 50th league goal, having netted in each of his four matches against Gladbach so far.
But Leverkusen, often derided as a team lacking a winning mentality and nicknamed ‘Neverkusen’ for their inability to win titles, are now unbeaten in 27 consecutive matches across all competitions this season.
Title rivals Bayern, chasing a record-extending 12th consecutive league crown, cut Leverkusen’s lead with a 1-0 win over Union Berlin in their postponed encounter on Wednesday.
For much of the game they looked somewhat sharper than in Sunday’s shock 1-0 home loss to Werder Bremen but were still far from their best, wasting chances before scoring at the start of the second half through Raphael Guerreiro.
“I feel our performance (against Union) was completely different form the one on Sunday against Werder,” Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel said after Wednesday’s win. “Werder had counter attacks from the start.”
Bayern will, however, not have an easy task at their Bavarian rivals Augsburg on Saturday with the hosts having won their last two matches on home soil against the champions.
Third-placed VfB Stuttgart, who on 34 points are 10 behind Bayern, host RB Leipzig, in fourth on 33.
The pair, along with fifth-placed Borussia Dortmund also on 33, are locked in a battle for a top-four finish that brings Champions League football next season.
