The Bundesliga had waited a long time for this. On the rare occasion a contender to genuinely challenge Bayern Munich emerges, we have come to wince at the moment of impact. If it looks too good to be true, it normally has been in a run of 11 successive titles. Yet this time Bayer Leverkusen were not only ready to compete. They were ready to dominate on their terms, to dictate, to highlight their excellence in bold. This time, it looks like it is for real.
This took us back nearly 13 years, to 26 February 2011. Another Saturday night Topspiel and another title contender’s statement of late winter intent on the big stage. On the night that Jürgen Klopp’s young Borussia Dortmund went to Allianz Arena and swept aside the hosts with verve – effectively ending Louis van Gaal’s reign of success on the spot – they announced themselves to Planet Football. They were not just a curio, not a few lines of diverting football digest, but serious players.
