On Leicester, Leverkusen and handling unexpected title races

Few would have expected Xabi Alonso's Leverkusen to be playing for the Bundesliga title and yet here they are, with a very real chance of winning it all. But how does a team handle being in an unexpected title race?

Robert Huth played an integral part of Leicester City's remarkable Premier League victory in 2016. For the German, the key was balancing his natural human desire to imagine the future and the discipline to return to the situation at hand.

"It's important that you allow yourself to go to that sort of place, you know, like envision yourself lifting the trophy, to be celebrated by the thousands of fans," Huth told DW. "You need to drift. You need to imagine all these experiences, how great it would be walking through the door, your kids are buzzing."

"But it's also important then to go back to the reality that is basically the next training session and the next game," he said.

Huth would follow a 24-hour rule, meaning that, win or lose, he would refocus after that time period. But the Berliner admits the approach of Leicester's staff helped him and the team return to the present, too.

"The players can dream, that’s their job," Huth said. "But it's also the most important people around the club, like the [physical therapists], the fitness guys, the conditioning guys, the coaches, they're the ones that are going to have to bring you back down to Earth because if you win on a weekend and you're still first, you come in on the Monday morning, you're buzzing, you think you're the best, untouchable, but you do need that grounding."

Team bonding is key

Leverkusen probably need just that, given that they're not just top of the league but also haven't lost a game yet this season.

Leicester were second at the halfway stage but when they returned to the summit on matchday 23, they never fell off, losing only one of their last 12 games to win a remarkable title by 10 points. Even when they lost, they never wobbled. Huth believes that was partly due to the closeness of the group.

"How do you create it [a strong team bond]? It's certainly not buzzwords in the gym like together we can fight and win. It sort of comes from the top, from the chairman. With the Thai background, they're very family orientated, they make sure everyone's in it."

"Bonding with players outside of football, little things like knowing your teammates' kids names and all that stuff," Huth said. "It's weird, I don't even know how to explain it, but it just gives you a little bit more bonding."

Trust in the core

Another contributing factor is trust. Leicester head coach Claudio Ranieri not only cared for his players as people but also trusted them. Huth admitted that as a pragmatic German, a large part of how he contributed to the success of the team was his professional pride.

"If I see, for instance, Danny Simpson having an outstanding game, I want to be equally as good. That's the kind of thing that spurred me on. If I could see someone else do really, really well on the team, I cannot let them down," said Huth, adding that in doing so it would often lead to other players following suit.

This is made easier when a core group of players emerges and sets the tone. In their Premier League winning season, Leicester played the same starting eleven 13 times. In a 38-game season, that might not sound like a lot but they are one of only four teams to use an XI that many times in a Premier League season. Intriguingly, after 17 Bundesliga games, exactly halfway through this season, Xabi Alonso had fielded the same starting eleven 10 times.

For Huth, it was clear that having a small core group that stayed injury-free was pivotal to their success, not just in terms of bonding but also in terms of ability to perform on the field.

"Less is sometimes more. You've got what you got, everyone knows their job and you do build relationships. You sort of do these automated things like if you play with someone 100 times. For instance, I knew what Wes [Morgan] was going to do in certain situations. I wouldn't have to work at it," Huth said.

"When it came to the Saturday I was like, right, I'm gonna have to drop two yards here, get 45 degree angle to cover the ball behind, all that sort of stuff."

Perspective matters

In many ways, the two situations are incomparable. The two teams play different ways in different countries. Leicester largely avoided injuries and misfortune such as the Africa Cup of Nations being played in the same year — Leverkusen are dealing with both. Leicester were being chased by Arsenal and Tottenham, the latter another team that hadn't won the title, whereas Leverkusen are being chased by perennial winners Bayern.

And Leverkusen have their past. On the final day of the 1999-2000 season, Leverkusen lost the title on goal difference to Bayern Munich after being unable to get the point they needed against Unterhaching. Two years later, Leverkusen famously lost the treble in the space of a month, and in 2009, Leverkusen and an emerging Toni Kroos went 24 games unbeaten only to collapse and lose five of their last 10 games to finish fourth.

But Huth's perspective shines a light on the underlying elements that all champions tend to have, perhaps pivotally sensing the opportunity once it arrives.

"I've played with so many players that never got to win anything. They played for 17 years and finished eighth, ninth, which is brutal, but that's top level sport, isn't it? So to be able to get into that position where you might win, I think it's just the best. And we took it on, crash helmet on, and absorbed all the pressure. I got to win something. I got to spray champagne. That's literally the luckiest thing."

Now all that's left is to find out whether Leverkusen's champagne will be on ice or in the air come May.

This article was originally published on January 14, 2024. It has been updated to reflect Bayer Leverkusen's 3-0 Bundesliga win over Bayern Munich on February 10, 2024.

Edited by: Matt Pearson
Updated by: Chuck Penfold