A big victory over Bremen on Sunday helped Leverkusen reach 79 points after 29 rounds. With 16 points more than Bayern Munich and only five rounds left in the season, Alonso and his team got enough points to win the title early, ending 11 years of Bayern's domination.
After the match, Alonso (C) went to the press conference room as usual. While he was answering questions, a group of players led by vice-captain defender Jonathan Tah and defender Jeremy Frimpong, carrying large glasses of beer, rushed into the press conference room and poured it on the coach's head.
Alonso initially tried to run away. When he pushed his chair up, he was surrounded by players from both sides and got showered with beer.
This is a familiar style of celebration in Germany, a country with a long history of beer.
Jeremie Frimpong (L) pours beer into his coach. The 23-year-old Dutch player is considered Leverkusen's machine on the right flank. He has played 27 Bundesliga matches since the beginning of the season, only missing two, scoring eight goals and assisting eight.
Leverkusen players poured beer on Alonso during a press conference. Video by Beanyman Sports
This season's Bundesliga title is the first major title in Alonso's managerial career.
The 42-year-old coach retired in Bayern Munich's jersey at the end of the 2016-2017 season, then attended UEFA's Elite coaching class. In the summer of 2018, while studying with some Spanish teammates such as Raul Gonzalez, Xavi, Victor Valdes and Joan Capdevila, he returned to Real Madrid, where he played from 2009-2014, to coach the U14 team there.
In the summer of 2019, Alonso coached the reserve team of Real Sociedad, where he started his career as a professional player.
Success during three years at Sociedad helped the young coach catch the attention of several clubs. He was contacted by Borussia Monchengladbach in March 2021, but chose to stay at Sociedad for another season, then accepted to coach Leverkusen in October 2022, replacing Gerardo Seoane.
When Alonso took over the team, Leverkusen were still near the relegation zone. But after only a short time, Leverkusen transformed and finished sixth in the Bundesliga last season before winning the title early this season.
Leverkusen Sports Director Simon Rolfes (L) shares the joy with Alonso after the victory at Bay Arena.
Rolfes is considered a silent hero who has contributed greatly to Leverkusen's success over the past two years. It was this director who convinced Alonso to coach the team while they were on the brink of relegation in October 2022.
He also implemented a reasonable transfer policy, bringing in Victor Boniface, Alejandro Grimaldo, Granit Edmond Tapsoba, Florian Wirtz, Patrik Schick, Piero Hincapie and Robert Andrich for Alonso to create an unrivaled team in the Bundesliga this season.
Leverkusen fans carry a large painting of Alonso wearing the crown, along with a replica of the Bundesliga trophy when they flood the Bay Arena after the final whistle.
The Bay Arena is filled with a festive atmosphere as a sea of Leverkusen fans go down the pitch.
Since the beginning of this season, Leverkusen have been unbeaten in 43 matches.
In the Bundesliga, Alonso's team won 25 and drew four after 29 matches. In DFB-Pokal, they won all five games and will play the final with Kaiserslautern on May 25.
In the Europa League, Leverkusen won all six group stage games, eliminated Qarabag in the round of 16, and beat West Ham 2-0 in the first leg of the quarterfinals last week.
In the crowd at Bay Arena pitch, there were many older fans wearing jerseys of past players such as Ulf Kirsten, Michael Ballack, Bernd Schneider and Diego Placente.
This stadium and these names embody Leverkusen's painful period in the late 1990s and early 2000s when the team often finished second in all tournaments, which gave them the nickname "Neverkusen."
From 1997 to 2002, Leverkusen finished second in the Bundesliga four times, of which 2000 and 2002 left fans in tears, because the team let the title slip away at the final moments. At the end of the 2001-2002 season, Leverkusen also finished second in the Champions League after reaching the final and losing 1-2 to Real Madrid.
After so much suffering and waiting, Leverkusen won their first domestic league title in the club's 119-year history of existence. Before that, they won the UEFA Cup (now the Europa League) in 1988 and the DFB-Pokal in 1993.
Xhaka emotionally hugs his teammates after Leverkusen won the championship five rounds early. The 31-year-old Swiss midfielder was bought from Arsenal in the summer for $25 million and played in all 29 Bundesliga games this season. His experience contributed greatly to the team's journey to the title.
