Will Leverkusen replace the coach? Real Madrid legend to be hot candidate

There is no end to Leverkusen’s woes. In the Bundesliga, they are in second to last place, and in the Champions League it is not much happier either. Logically, there is talk of a change of coach. Gerard Seoane could be replaced by a very star name.

Eight games in the Bundesliga, only one win, five points and a 9:16 record. After last year’s run, which ended with a Champions League position, a big crisis has come.

Bayer is not doing well in the Champions League either. Schick and co. first lost to Bruges, then surprisingly beat Atlético Madrid, but last time they lost to Porto.

Yet the Czech striker is blackly responsible for the defeat at the Estadio do Dragao. In the 45th minute, Schick was awarded a penalty, which he did not convert. Diogo Costa stood opposite him in goal, just as he did a few days ago in the Portugal goal during the Nations League, when Schick also missed a penalty kick.

In the second half, the substitutes secured Porto’s 2-0 win and deepened Leverkusen’s crisis. The talk of replacing the coach became loud.

A star coach?

And who should be the new coach of Schick and Hložek? The German daily Kicker puts Spanish icon Xabi Alonso as the top candidate. The former great midfielder dominated the Champions League with Liverpool in the 2004/05 season and also with Real Madrid in the 2013/14 edition.

He also has experience of German football, having spent the last three years of his career at Bayern Munich. He then embarked on a coaching career, starting with Real Madrid’s youth team. He then moved to the B-team of Real Sociedad, where he started his football career and where he also comes from.

He proved his ability immediately – he took Real Sociedad’s reserve team to the second Spanish league, something neither Barcelona’s great academy nor Real Madrid’s B-team led by Raúl could do.

In the big competition, the youngsters from San Sebastian didn’t have many chances anymore, and after the season they were relegated again, finishing 20th out of 22 teams (four teams are relegated). Still, they had a nice performance, collecting 40 points and only 5 points short of salvation.

Borussia Mönchengladbach were already in the running for Xabi Alonso in the spring, but it didn’t happen in the end. But the former midfielder with an excellent reading of the game ended his engagement in the north of Spain in the summer and is waiting for offers.

And it is Leverkusen who could throw him a lasso. The ailing club needs a boost and the legendary Real Madrid midfielder could be it.

Source: Kicker