How do you follow up an historic upset? That’s the question facing Xabi Alonso and Bayer Leverkusen as they seek to prove they belong among European soccer’s top teams after ending Bayern Munich’s 11-year reign in the German league last season.

With Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen side trailing Bundesliga leaders, Bayern Munich by eight points, the Leverkusen Head Coach tried to play down the hype on Friday ahead of an enthralling

Saturday's Bundesliga big game between leaders Bayern Munich and champions Bayer Leverkusen is not a title-deciding game even though the latter are eight points behind the Bavarians, Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso said on Friday.

Bayer Leverkusen's chief executive Fernand Carro is confident Xabi Alonso will remain with the club heading into next season. ( More Football News) Alonso led Leverkusen to an undefeated Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal double last season. Indeed, Leverkusen's only loss of the entire campaign came in the Europa League final against Atalanta.

Xabi Alonso has enjoyed great success at Bayer Leverkusen, and the club's chief executive expects the Spaniard to stay next season.

Xabi Alonso eqaulled the all-time coach record for the longest unbeaten run in away games in the Bundesliga on Saturday.

Bayern Munich aim to end a winless run against Bayer Leverkusen when they visit the defending champions on Saturday with a chance to 11 points clear of them at the top of the Bundesliga. The top of the table clash is also an anticipated duel between Germany's most gifted young players in the form of Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala,