Xabi Alonso's Bayer Leverkusen beat Marseille and West Ham in pre-season, and kicked off their Bundesliga campaign by downing Supercup winners RB Leipzig. Between those summer friendly scalps Die Werkself also thrashed fourth-tier Teutonia Ottensen 8-0 in the first round of the DFB Cup, and some quiet optimism has slowly been building at the BayArena. Leverkusen had played West Ham off the park two weeks ago, and whilst only a pre-season warm-up game, it's worth remembering the Hammers won the UEFA Conference League last season.

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/xabi-alonso-new-look-leverkusen-granit-xhaka-frimpong-24442

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