After 18 Bundesliga matches this season, Bayer Leverkusen find themselves sitting pretty at the top of the standings, still undefeated and with a four point cushion to Bayern Munich in second spot. In fact, Xabi Alonso’s side have already become the first team in German football history to remain unbeaten after the first 25 games of a campaign across all competitions. Their stellar form looks set to finally deliver some much-sought after silverware.
By Nathan Evans
Among their usual stand-out stars in the form of wonderkid Florian Wirtz and the much talked about Victor Boniface, there’s two players that have arguably been even more important than any others for Leverkusen this campaign. Those two players in question are Álex Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong; who between them have arguably formed the best wing-back partnership seen across Europe’s top five leagues in recent memory.
Before delving into the performances of both of Leverkusen’s flying full-backs, we first need to take a look at how Alonso has set up his Leverkusen side so far this campaign.
Normally deployed in a 3-4-2-1 formation – though the front three can be configured to have two strikers instead when needed – the system that Alonso has adopted this term is one that packs the middle of the park to allow the two full-backs to almost act as wingers when attacking. Simply put, that helps to give both players in those positions plenty of freedom and space to operate within, whilst making it difficult for the opposing side to know how best to track the duo.
This season, those two players have been Álex Grimaldo on the left and Jeremie Frimpong on the right.
Starting with 28-year-old Grimaldo, who without a doubt will go down as one of the best free transfer signings in a number of seasons across Europe, after joining in the summer from Benfica – he has recorded seven goals and eight assists across his 18 Bundesliga matches this campaign.
For reference on both of those fronts, he has the second-most German top-flight assists behind only Bayern’s Leroy Sané (10) and the ninth-most goals in the competition. His goal scoring also sees him head into this weekend’s action as the highest-scoring defender across Europe’s top five leagues, with six of his seven league strikes surprisingly coming away from home.
Delving into his offensive output a little deeper, Grimaldo’s numbers across the board have been stunning in the Bundesliga. Among all defenders in the competition, he ranks first for shots attempted (37), second for expected assists (5.27), second for chances created (39), second for successful crosses (21) and fourth for expected goals (2.42). That highlights just how well he understands his new role in this current Leverkusen set up, and it also emphasises just how well Alonso has done to get the best out of his new Spanish full-back.
The former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder, who is still in his first senior managerial role and is now heavily linked with a move to Liverpool after Jürgen Klopp’s recent announcement on his future, has also worked wonders in getting the best out of right-back Frimpong in a similar way. The 23-year-old joined Die Werkself from Celtic back in January 2021 but ever since, had struggled for consistency. That’s not been a problem this season though, as the Dutchman has thrived in his more attacking role, which has subsequently led to a full international debut back in mid-October after which his club manager said “we’re totally convinced about Jeremie, and believe that he has a big international future ahead of him.”
Like Grimaldo, Frimpong has started in all 18 of Leverkusen’s Bundesliga matches this term, recording 11 direct goal contributions along the way. Five of those have come in the form of goals, from an expected goals figure of 4.08 – the highest xG total of any defender across Europe’s top five leagues – whilst his six assists are the most of any Bundesliga defender behind his teammate.
Again, a more in-depth look into his attacking numbers showcases just how brilliant Frimpong has been in his more offensive role at right wing-back. In the German top-flight amongst defenders, he ranks second for attempted shots (28), third for expected assists (3.63) and third for chances created (32); output that is even more impressive when it’s underlined by the fact that he doesn’t usually take set pieces like his Spanish teammate. Amazingly, from his position, the 23-year-old has further racked up 136 touches in the opposition box this campaign, the second-most of any German top-flight player behind Leverkusen striker Victor Boniface!
For both, what’s potentially even more impressive however, is the fact that despite the duo putting up huge attacking metrics, their defensive performance hasn’t really suffered because of it. To date, Leverkusen have conceded the fewest goals of any side in the German top-flight (14) with their eight clean sheets also ranking them highly across Europe’s top five leagues. Elsewhere, from an individual perspective, both rank at the top of the pile for times winning possession in the final third across Europe’s elite league competitions, another key part of Alonso’s set-up, which has helped to bring success to the BayArena so far.
It does need to be mentioned that against more skillful and talented opposition, both wing-backs can struggle from a defensive perspective, whilst there’s equally the old adage of opponents understanding their tactical set up more in the future which could limit their output. The system can further, and in particular, prove to be vulnerable to counter-attacks with both full-backs operating further up the field. That can on occasion leave the pair ‘high and dry’ so to speak, but with such attacking output to make up for those small shortcomings, it’s difficult to imagine Die Werkself finishing this campaign without adding silverware to their trophy cabinet.
Whether Bayer Leverkusen can seal their first Bundesliga title still remains to be seen, but what is already certain, is that Álex Grimaldo and Jeremie Frimpong’s performances for the club throughout the 2023/24 campaign will go down in club folklore for years to come regardless.
(Images from IMAGO)
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