By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Ahead of the UEFA Champions League duel against Salzburg, the reigning German champion Bayer Leverkusen remains in limbo.
Following an unbeaten run last season that led to the club's first league title, things appear like a rollercoaster journey in all 2024/25 campaign competitions.
Rumors of several departures next summer burden the team of Spanish star coach Xabi Alonso with the Spaniard as the center of attention.
The sports magazine kicker is assuming the club is ahead of a significant re-launch at the end of the current season. The list of possible departures seems to grow week by week.
Having to deal with a nine-point setback to table leaders Bayern, the future of leading forces such as Alonso (Real) and Florian Wirtz (Bayern/Real/City) is in doubt aside from the defenders Piero Hincapie, Jonathan Tah, and Nordi Mukiele; not to speak of striker Patrik Schick.
The kicker is mentioning a transfer revenue of around 200 million euros coming along with the challenging task for sporting director Simon Rolfes to puzzle over next season's squad.
In the dust cloud of speculations, Alonso and club leaders such as CEO Fernando Carro try to focus on the present having to compete in three competitions addressing the side's new ambitions.
"We stay calm as there is no news of a concerning kind," Rolfes claims while Carro refers to the running contracts of Alonso (2026) and Wirtz (2027).
Courted Alonso repeatedly claims to live in the present and deal with the upcoming games while Wirtz keeps silent.
While Bayern's board member Uli Hoeness already talked about his side taking the 2024/25 national title, Leverkusen is struggling to gain consistency.
Regarding the national league race, team captain and Swiss international Granit Xhaka is declaring objections. "No one has won the title after only twelve rounds of matches. Bayern must play in our arena," the 32-year-old stated, not to speak of the German Cup clash next week in Munich.
Six goals in the recent five games might tell the story of the 28-year-old's upswing.
"It might be more difficult than last season, but we are determined to repeat success and gain some silverware," Xhaka said ahead of decisive weeks including the games against Bayern (German Cup) and Inter Milan in the Champions League.
Despite the current injury losses, Rolfes claims to have set up "a well-equipped squad to survive in all competitions." The upcoming weeks seem an opportunity to prove the resilience of Leverkusen's confidence. ■
