Coach Xabi Alonso was scared by Granit Xhaka's celebration

After the opening goal against Mainz 05, Granit Xhaka startled coach Xabi Alonso as well as Bayer Leverkusen's doctor with his celebration of pretending to be injured.

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Bayer Leverkusen opened the scoring quite early in the match against Mainz 05. In the 2nd minute, Granit Xhaka put the home team in the lead. The former Arsenal star's long-range shot left the Mainz 05 goalkeeper helpless and opened the door to victory for coach Xabi Alonso's team.


Right after scoring, the home team's fans were worried before they could celebrate. Xhaka suddenly limped as if he was injured.

Coach Alonso even thought the Swiss student had a hamstring injury, so he called the medical team to prepare to enter the field to assist.


Granit Xhaka pretended to be injured to celebrate the goal
Granit Xhaka pretended to be injured to celebrate the goal


However, Xhaka quickly smiled and celebrated with his teammates amid the sighs of coach Xabi and his colleagues. It turned out that it was all just a "drama" by the midfielder wearing shirt number 34 and Xhaka still played the full 90 minutes against Mainz 05.


After the match, coach Xabi said he was not surprised by the above action. Xabi shared: "I knew it was just a joke from Xhaka. During training, he also did this trick. At that time, I was also shaking a lot. When I saw Granit holding his leg, I told his doctor." Just stay calm, it's okay."


As for Xhaka, the midfielder admitted that he was lucky to have the opening goal. The former Arsenal star shared: "That goal came from my intention to score. Of course, I was also supported by luck. But anyway, I'm happy with this goal.


I've pretended to be injured while celebrating during practice sessions. I've been here for 8 months and I think everyone knows about me. But the most important thing is that Bayer wins and has an 11-point gap with the second team."


Even though Mainz equalized in the 8th minute, Leverkusen still won 3 points thanks to Andrich's goal.


Leverkusen extended their unbeaten streak this season with 34 matches, thereby becoming the German club with the longest winning streak in history, breaking the record of Bayern Munich (33 matches). Leverkusen is also the only club in Europe that has not lost when the season is two-thirds of the way.


Winning at home also helps Leverkusen widen the gap with Bayern to 11 points and play one more match. Coach Alonso and his team face a better opportunity to end their Bavarian rival's 11-year streak of Bundesliga domination.


Leverkusen can even become one of the few championship teams with an unbeaten record, something only Arsenal in the Premier League in the 2003/2004 season and Juventus in Serie A in the 2011/2012 season can do in Europe.

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