Old guard guiding new-look Bayer Leverkusen
Whilst much praise has been heaped on Bayer Leverkusen’s talented youngsters this term, veterans like Alejandro Grimaldo, Patrik Schick and Jonas Hofmann have proven the value of experience in a team in transition.
Considering the 17 arrivals who came through the door at the BayArena over the summer, plus the numerous high-profile departures of the likes of Florian Wirtz, Jonathan Tah and Granit Xhaka - and Erik ten Hag's early exit after just Matchday 2 - it's unsurprising that some of Leverkusen's more senior players haven't received the plaudits their performances have warranted this season.
Nevertheless, Grimaldo, Schick, Hofmann, Aleix García and Edmond Tapsoba - the spine of Kasper Hjulmand's new-look side in recent weeks -have proven themselves consistent performers and driving the team forward.
Many of them combined to help the Werkself bounce back from their first league defeat under the Dane away to Bayern Munich on Matchday 9 (3-0), with a performance for the ages against Heidenheim - the 6-0 scoreline marking their record joint-highest margin of victory ever in the Bundesliga.
Watch: Leverkusen 6-0 Heidenheim - highlights
Starting with the goalscorers: Schick, who had been working his way back to full fitness following hamstring injury seems to be back to his scintillating best for Die Werkself.
After providing the winner against Benfica midweek to give Leverkusen a much-needed first three points in the UEFA Champions League, the Czech striker followed those heroics up with a brace against Frank Schmidt's side.
It took just one minute and 12 seconds for Schick to open the scoring for Leverkusen - Die Werkself's quickest goal so far this season. Additionally, his second took the No.14's league tally up to five, making him Leverkusen's outright top scorer and the joint-fifth league-wide.
What's more, the 29-year-old is now level with Dimitar Berbatov in fourth place in the list of Leverkusen's all-time highest goalscorers in the German top flight (both on 69 goals), and is now also tied with the Bulgarian as the club's record highest-scoring non-German in the Bundesliga!
Additionally, across all competitions, Schick is now also tied with club legend Herbert Waas on 88 goals as Leverkusen's joint-fourth all-time top goalscorer.
Now, whilst Schick was always expected to be leading the line for Leverkusen ahead of the season's inception, one man whose return to prominence may have caught many by surprise is Hofmann.
After an impressive maiden Werkself campaign in 2023/24, Leverkusen's now oldest outfield player at 33 years of age had been frozen out under Xabi Alonso, playing just 651 minutes across 17 competitive appearances in 2024/25.
However, he crowned his recent redemption arc with a goal against Heidenheim, heading home a Tapsoba cross after just 16 minutes. Speaking on his turnaround this term, Hofmann admitted: “The coach is putting his trust in me, and I think I’m repaying it well at the moment.”
After the game, Hofmann added: “I always try to give everything; that’s just in my nature. Even when it’s already 6-0, I still want to score the seventh and eighth.”
Hjulmand was also full of praise for his resurgent veteran No.7, saying of Hofmann - whom he knew from his time in charge of Mainz: “I think he’s a great player who still has a lot of potential.”
Working backwards, García has been the man pulling the strings behind Hofmann and Schick for Leverkusen.
Now in his second season and filling the boots left by Xhaka, the Spanish metronome has been a mainstay in the middle of the park for Leverkusen and may well be one of the first names down on the teamsheet each week for Hjulmand, due in large part to his tireless workrate, having covered the most ground of any Leverkusen player this term (104.1km).
His performances throughout the season have been nothing short of exemplary, but against Heidenheim, the 28-year-old set a new league-wide season record by having possession of the ball on 177 separate occasions.
Additionally, García played 165 passes, which is the highest figure for one player in the current Bundesliga campaign.
Arguably more impressive still is what the Spaniard is doing when he has possession, and his performance against Heidenheim was far from anomalous in this regard: García has the best pass completion rate at Leverkusen (93.85 percent).
García isn't the only senior Spain international leading by example at Leverkusen either. Fellow countryman Grimaldo - now in this 30s - has shown no signs of slowing this season and is, in fact, putting up numbers evocative of the record-breaking figures he contributed in Leverkusen's 2023/24 title-winning campaign.
So far this term - from left wing-back - Grimaldo tops the Leverkusen charts for most assists (three), most shots (19), most sprints (140), most intensive runs (603), most crosses from open play (11), and has even won the most duels (105).
Not only that, the wide player is also Die Werkself's joint-second top goalscorer, having netted four in the league.
Watch: Grimaldo's new role at Leverkusen
Grimaldo has been nothing short of an absolute machine for Hjulmand's Leverkusen, and the Danish coach has made it no secret that he's very glad to have a player the Spaniard's quality at his disposal.
Ahead of the Benfica clash, Hjulmand heaped praise on the wide player, saying: "Grima is having a fantastic season and always in different roles. He is very versatile. And in many games as our captain, he absolutely leads the way."
Last but not least, perhaps Leverkusen's biggest unsung hero of the season so far has been Tapsoba. The only surviving member of Leverkusen's watertight and undefeated back-three from the 2023/24 title-win following the exits of Jonathan Tah and Piero Hincapié in the summer, Tapsoba has stepped up to assume the role of leader at the back for his side with tremendous aplomb.
Ahead of the start of the season, Tapsoba acknowledged he had become the ranking member of Leverkusen's defence after a summer of change, admitting: “Of course, I have to take on more responsibility now. I learned a lot from Jona [Tah], and now it's my turn. I try to help the team as best I can, also as one of the leaders.”
The Burkinabé defender has certainly risen to that particular challenge. After 10 Bundesliga matchdays, Tapsoba can boast the third-most successful duels (88) and aerial duels (21) at the club, and the third-best pass completion rate at Leverkusen - with 92.28 percent - which places him in eighth league-wide.
Not only that, Leverkusen's No.12 even managed to add an uncharacteristically high offensive output to his game against Heidenheim. Tapsoba's two assists against Heidenheim were more than he managed in his previous 166 Bundesliga appearances put together (one).
Since Hjulmand took charge, Leverkusen have only tasted defeat twice: at the hands of Bayern and PSG - two of the very best teams in Europe.
Under the Dane, things have been continuing to click at the BayArena. The records speak for themselves: Leverkusen have never led 4-0 so early in a Bundesliga game as they did against Heidenheim, while that game was also only the second time in their top-flight history that Die Werkself have had a five-goal lead at half-time.
With the perfect blend of an experienced spine of core players, and talented youngsters, Hjulmand has at his disposal one of the most exciting, unpredictable teams in Germany.
Nevertheless, whilst he was delighted with their most recent result, the Dane stressed the importance of not letting complacency creep in, declaring: "Now I hope all the players come back fit from their national teams, so that we can continue with this pressing and this intensity after the break."
He knows that his team have a big run up to the end of the year with eight games across three competitions, including Champions League fixtures against Manchester City and Newcastle United, plus a Bundesliga/DFB Cup double header against Borussia Dortmund. It'll be a spell where those experienced heads need to lead the way again.
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