Super Eagles of Nigeria stars Victor Boniface and Nathan Tella etched their names in the annals of German football history, after propelling Bayer Leverkusen to their first-ever Bundesliga title following their 5-0 win over Werder Bremen on Sunday, April 14.
The Bay Arena was filled to the brim ahead of kick-off, as the Die Werkself’s faithful came out in their numbers to witness a new dawn in the Bundesliga following eleven consecutive seasons of Bayern Munich’s dominance.
Nigeria’s Boniface, Tella and other African contingents that includes Morocco’s Amine Adli, Burkina Faso’s Edmund Tapsoba, and Côte d’Ivoire’s Odilon Kossounnou were all trusted with a starting role that paid off about 22 minutes into the encounter when Boniface converted from the spot to send the Bay Arena crowd agog.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, Boniface who had already secured his 18th goal contribution in 18 league appearances (11 goals and seven assists) added an assist to his tally, as he set up Granit Xhaka for Leverkusen’s second goal, which all but signalled Werder Bremen’s looming humiliation.
Germany’s Florian Wirtz came on in the 68th minute to grab a second-half hat-trick, as the Alonso-tutored side emphatically became the 13th team to win the Bundesliga.
Having already secured the Bundesliga title with five matches to spare, Boniface and Tella could go on to clinch a treble with Leverkusen.
The DFB Pokal and Europa League are still very much in sight of the German outliers who are yet to taste defeat this season.
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