Bailey and Wirtz fire Leverkusen top of the Bundesliga

Bayer Leverkusen 4-1 Hoffenheim, BayArena
(Bailey 4', 27', Wirtz 55', Alario 90+2' pen. — Baumgartlinger 50')

There was a certain irony that, on the day Lucien Favre was sacked, his Borussia Dortmund predecessor Peter Bosz led Bayer Leverkusen to the top of the Bundesliga with a comprehensive win over nine-man Hoffenheim.

The Dutchman was in charge of Dortmund for 161 rollercoaster days back in 2017, the same season in which Leon Bailey broke through at Leverkusen. For both Bosz and Bailey, those initial successes proved short-lived, but the pair are stealing the show this season.

Bailey's stunning effort just four minutes in was a sign of things to come. When he pounced on a careless back pass from Andrej Kramaric, rounded the advancing Oliver Baumann and slotted home from distance, it was clear Leverkusen were going to go top of the Bundesliga for the first time in six years.

After that promising breakthrough season in 2017, which piqued the interest of some of Europe's biggest clubs, Bailey had struggled to kick on. The more conservative football of Bosz' predecessor Heiko Herrlich didn't suit the winger, and there were distractions off the pitch when he became embroiled in a controversy with the Jamaican Football Federation.

But after two goals against Slavia Prague in the Europa League on Thursday, the brace against Hoffenheim on Sunday took his season tally to seven goals in all competitions. Bailey is back, and so are Leverkusen.

No Havertz, no problem

Last season, Leverkusen narrowly missed out on Champions League football by just two points, and then lost starlet Kai Havertz to Chelsea in the summer. That they've responded, in Bosz's second season, with their best ever start to a Bundesliga season — under the most difficult of circumstances — is a testament to their quality.

At Dortmund, Bosz' uncompromising commitment to all out attacking football quickly proved his undoing. He's not short of attacking talent in Leverkusen either, but it's at the back where Bosz has clearly made progress.

With no fewer than 10 defenders in the squad to choose from, including Germany international Jonathan Tah and Burkina Faso talent Edmond Tapsoba, only RB Leipzig have conceded fewer goals this season.

Defensive stability and rotation are key, but so is recovery, especially with a packed Bundesliga and Europa League schedule. As "Sportbild" reported this week, Leverkusen's players have been stepping up their recovery, including three-minute spells in -110°C freezers, high-altitude breathing simulations, yoga sessions and tailored sleeping patterns.

No wonder then, in the first week of November, they scored four goals in three consecutive games.

Leverkusen are fun to watch, perhaps none more so than Florian Wirtz, the 17-year-old prodigy following in the footsteps of Havertz. In June, he became the youngest goalscorer in Bundesliga history when he scored against Bayern Munich, and the teenager has impressed with four assists this season.

On Sunday, after Hoffenheim had pulled a goal back, Wirtz tip-toed through the Hoffenheim defense, holding off defenders with his strength before chipping coolly over Baumann.

It was a goal worthy of the new Bundesliga leaders, a status confirmed when Lucas Alario netted his eighth goal of the season from the spot. Bayer, Bosz & Bailey are back.