Xabi Alonso equals German record after huge Jurgen Klopp praise

Xabi Alonso has equalled a German record the day after Jurgen Klopp gave massive praise to the favourite to replace him at Liverpool. The Spaniard is working wonders at Bayer Leverkusen.

Xabi Alonso oversaw Bayer Leverkusen's 2-1 win at Heidenheim on Saturday to at least temporarily take an eight-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga. Bayern Munich can cut that back to five tomorrow, though.

But this was particularly notable as it's Leverkusen's 32nd game of the season - and they haven't lost any of them. That equals the German record for an unbeaten start to a campaign, set by Bayern back in 2019/20.

Now, Bayern did do slightly better than Leverkusen have - they only drew one of those 32 games. Alonso's team have drawn four in the Bundesliga alone.

On Friday, though, Leverkusen will host Mainz and go for the outright record. It would be surprising if they didn't secure it at this point.

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This comes after Jurgen Klopp heaped praise on Alonso as the 'standout' manager of his generation. The Spaniard is favourite to take over from Klopp at Liverpool when the Reds' boss steps down at the end of the season.

"Xabi is doing an incredible job," Klopp said on Friday, per ESPN. "That's ­completely independent [of reports linking Alonso to Liverpool]. If you would have asked me eight weeks ago about Xabi Alonso, I would have gone: 'Oh my God.'

"The dinosaurs, if you want -- [Carlo] Ancelotti, [Jose] Mourinho, [Pep] Guardiola, maybe me -- we will not do it for the next 20 years. OK, maybe Mourinho will.

"The next generation is already there and I would say Xabi is standout in that department."

Liverpool fans certainly believe so. At this point, people would be pretty devastated if anyone other than Alonso takes over later this year.

And as he continues to push records, the desire to hire Alonso will only increase at Liverpool. What he's doing is extraordinary - and he's far from done this season.