Certainly there will be plenty of fancy dress on display at the BayArena on Saturday when Bayer Leverkusen take on Bayern Munich in the biggest game of this Bundesliga season: first versus second, the challengers against the champions, the coming force against the establishment. Who are the real contenders? And who is simply wearing the costume? For Xabi Alonso and his Leverkusen side, this entire campaign has, in a way, been a brilliant exercise in self-deception. They have never won the title.
And though the two clubs are separated by only a couple of points, the real distinction here is in mindset and opportunity. For Leverkusen, there are no such guarantees. The same market forces that swept away Kai Havertz and Moussa Diaby in recent years may well sweep away Alonso too this summer. And so, if there is a faint sense of unreality at just how good they have been this season, it is inflected with a certain fragility too.
This, right here, is it. Their golden chance could well be their last chance. Perhaps this has contributed to the unusual focus and cohesion around the Leverkusen squad, a group of players utterly determined to live in the present.
No rehearsals, no second chances. At which point it is probably worth trying to explain what, exactly, Alonso β perhaps the most celebrated young coach in Europe β is doing there. His Leverkusen are a complex, shape-shifting bunch: a back three that often defends as a four, players rotating positions, a team equally comfortable on the blitz attack or in long spells of patient possession.
But of course there are some non-negotiables there: technical ability, flexibility, high wing-backs. Granit Xhaka, signed from Arsenal in the summer, has been a revelation in the centre, playing more progressive passes than any other player in Europe. Alongside him, Exequiel Palacios is second in the Bundesliga for dribble success rate.
