Soccer Football - Bundesliga - VfL Wolfsburg v Bayer Leverkusen - Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg, Germany - February 8, 2025 Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz in action with VfL Wolfsburg's Konstantinos Koulierakis REUTERS/Carmen Jaspersen
WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) -Champions Bayer Leverkusen stumbled to a goalless draw at VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday to drop eight points behind Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich as coach Xabi Alonso equalled the all-time coach record for the league's longest unbeaten away run.
Alonso's team, who needed extra time on Wednesday to beat second-tier Cologne and reach the German Cup last four, are in second place and face Bayern in the league's big game next week.
The Spaniard rotated heavily ahead of their ninth game in 26 days, leaving attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz on the bench initially.
They clearly missed his attacking spark as Wolfsburg got more shots on target. The hosts even hit the woodwork with Kilian Fischer's powerful drive in the 74th.
Despite some late pressure and a golden chance in stoppage time by substitute Wirtz, Leverkusen could not find a winner.
"It is easy to analyse things after the game but Florian's effort after 120 minutes (in the Cup game) was big," Alonso told a press conference. "But he still came close with an almost penalty and that last chance today."
The draw means Alonso equalled late coach Udo Lattek's all-time league record of 27 consecutive away games without defeat.
"For us things remain the same," Alonso said. "Next week we play against Bayern at home. There is this eight-point lead in the table but we focus on what we can achieve."
"We have a bit of time to recover after four weeks with three matches. I don't think too much about those eight points.
"If we beat Bayern then it's five points. We play at home, with our fans and with good energy. We have the whole week to train."
Leverkusen are in second place on 46 points. Bayern are on 54 after Friday's 3-0 win over Werder Bremen.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Clare Fallon)
