LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) — With Bayer Leverkusen one step away from an historic title, coach Xabi Alonso is trying to keep his players' feet firmly on the ground.
Leverkusen is unbeaten in 42 games in all competitions this season after beating West Ham 2-0 in the Europa League on Thursday. Another victory Sunday against mid-table Werder Bremen would secure the club's first Bundesliga title.
“We don’t take for granted any game,” Alonso said Friday. He declined to go into detail about how the team might celebrate or what the achievement would mean, indicating it was out of respect to opposing teams.
“We have a super situation on Sunday but we are preparing for it with full respect, so I don't want to talk too much,” he said.
There is a chance Leverkusen could become champion a day early if 11-time defending champion Bayern Munich and third-place Stuttgart both lose their games Saturday, but Alonso said he didn't want that to happen.
“That would be a big surprise to be honest,” he said. “I’d rather win it on the field with our victory.”
Leverkusen goes into this weekend's games with a 16-point lead over Bayern and Stuttgart and six games left to play in the Bundesliga. Leverkusen is chasing a possible treble. Besides the Bundesliga, Alonso's team has reached the final of the German Cup and is in the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
Leverkusen's game Sunday will be must-see TV for German soccer fans but Alonso's counterpart at Bayern, Thomas Tuchel, said he won't tune in.
Leverkusen's game kicks off at the same time as Bayern's next Champions League opponent, Arsenal, plays Aston Villa in the English Premier League. Bayern hosts Arsenal on Wednesday with the score at 2-2 from the first leg of their quarterfinal fixture.
“I'm not going to watch the Leverkusen game on Sunday,” he said. “I'll be watching Arsenal.”
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Leverkusen's head coach Xabi Alonso, centre left, celebrates with Leverkusen's Alex Grimaldo after the Europa League quarterfinals first leg soccer match between Bayer 04 Leverkusen and West Ham United at the BayArena in Leverkusen, Germany, Thursday, April 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)
May 10-16, 2024
People took part in the Piu Sik Parade at the Bun Festival in Hong Kong, Republican presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump attended his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Haitian school children played a game where they pretend to sleep, in their classroom, in Port-au-Prince.
This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images from around the world made or published by The Associated Press in the past week.
The selection was curated by AP photo editor Subramoney Iyer in New Delhi.
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Handler Willy Santiago competes with Afghan Hound Zaida during breed group judging at the 148th Westminster Kennel Club Dog show, Monday, May 13, 2024, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
A bird flies past the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge resting on the container ship Dali on Sunday, May 12, 2024, in Baltimore, as seen from Riviera Beach, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Participants perform as they attend the jumping fitness during Seoul Heath Show at Seoul Plaza in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin look toward each other as they shake hands prior to their talks in Beijing, China, Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Class of 2027 plebes climb during the Herndon Monument Climb to celebrate finishing their first year at the U.S. Naval Academy, Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Annapolis, Md. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
Palestinian Fayrouz Safi cries while she takes the last look at the body of her son Aysar Safi, 20, who was killed during clashes with Israeli forces during his funeral in the West Bank refugee camp of Jalazoun, north of Ramallah Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Malians take part in the annual re-plastering of the world's largest mud-brick building, the Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Moustapha Diallo)
A paratrooper carries a snake before marching in the 113th Independence Day parade in Asuncion, Paraguay, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Sailors of the U.S. navy aircraft carriers USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) man the rails at the U.S. navy's Yokosuka base before the ship's final departure from Yokosuka before transiting back to the United States,Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Students play a game where they pretend to sleep, in their classroom at the United States National Republic School, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, May 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump attends his trial at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on Monday, May 13, 2024. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool)
Supporters of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gather to greet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a roadshow campaign for the elections in Varanasi, India, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar)
Vehicles are partially submerged on a street flooded by heavy rains in Sao Leopoldo, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Burnt cars are lined up after unrest that erupted following protests over voting reforms in Noumea, New Caledonia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Nicolas Job)
Liudmila, 85, whose husband was killed in their house after a Russian airstrike looks though the window of a bus after being evacuated from Vovchansk, Ukraine, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Buddhist monks wait for a lantern parade ahead of the upcoming birthday of Buddha at Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
A woman touches a picture of a relative as she attends the celebrations of the Israel's annual Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers, at the site where revelers were killed and kidnapped on Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas militants near the Kibbutz Reim, southern Israel, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Houses sit on the slopes of the Jalousie neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Monday, May 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
A child is hoisted up as participants take part in the Piu Sik Parade at the Bun Festival in Cheung Chau Island in Hong Kong, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
A woman plays with her dog at a beach on the Gulf of Finland as the sun sets, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
