He is an all-rounder. Defender, attacker, playmaker, free-kick specialist: there is almost nothing that Alejandro Grimaldo hasn’t mastered with sensitivity. On Saturday, in the 3-0 victory of the new Bundesliga table leaders Bayer 04 Leverkusen over bottom-placed Mainz 05, this 28-year-old Valencian once again enchanted the around 5,000 Werkself fans who had traveled with him with his playing skills and his specialty.
The versatile professional, who trained at FC Barcelona but was never used in the first team there, once again took a free kick for his team in the 59th minute from the best position in the middle just before the penalty area – and then lifted the ball with a spin high up on the left into the Mainz net to give the Rhinelanders a 2-0 lead. His free-kick stroke of genius in Munich in the 2-2 draw against champions FC Bayern a few weeks ago was similarly artistically valuable.
In Mainz, the Spaniard, who came from Benfica Lisbon at the start of the season after seven and a half years in the service of the Portuguese record champions, was the creative outsize of perhaps the most exciting Bundesliga team at the moment, which easily solves all the tasks that Bayer 04 face.
Jonas Hofmann, himself a recognized free-kick taker, also likes to subordinate Grimaldo’s creativity. “When he tricks everyone like that, I always let him have it,” said the German international, who scored the game-winning 3-0 with a remarkable volley in the 65th minute, about the Spaniard, who has never played for his country’s senior national team was appointed. Hofmann believes Grimaldo could score ten free-kick goals this season. That would be a mark for the annals of the league.
“He makes it look extremely casual”
The offensive midfielder, who moved from Borussia Mönchengladbach to Leverkusen, describes Alejandro Grimaldo’s extra quality with enthusiasm: “He has this shooting technique extremely well. He practices week after week how the ball sinks at the end and flutters into the goal. He makes it look extremely casual.”
Since Grimaldo is much more than a specialist, but inspires his team at every turn, his Spanish compatriot and coach Xabi Alonso, who is a worldly man as a player for Liverpool FC, Real Madrid, FC Bayern and the Spanish national team Ball and free-kick taker in front of the gentleman, Grimaldo was recommended for “La Roja”. “I hope that he will be invited to the national team. It would be totally deserved, he has the quality for it.”
On Saturday, when not everything was going well for Alonso’s team before the break, Grimaldo’s intelligence and intuition inspired his team’s game, which had not yet got up to speed, with every minute. In the end, the bulky bottom of the league, who was braver and had better content than last time, was confidently kept at bay, without the class leader being completely satisfied with his performance. At halftime, the eloquent Hofmann revealed after the end of the game, the meticulous gentleman coach even “became a little louder” to “point out that Mainz is waiting for our mistakes.”
If goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky hadn’t been a strong supporter, as has so often been the case recently, the Rheinhessen could have equalized the game with Lee’s header (25th) and the long-range shot from the 19-year-old best Mainz player Brajan Gruda (30th). As it was, Leverkusen’s lead at the break was maintained, which Mainz central defender Sepp van den Berg ensured with an own goal (18th). An unfortunate action because the Dutch central defender actually wanted to shield the ball from the onrushing center forward Victor Boniface close to his own goal.
Even in the weaker first half, Bayer repeatedly found their energetic possession football with dynamic passing relays via the midfield greats Granit Xhaka and Exequiel Palacios. The Argentine world champion extended his contract with the Bayer Group last week by three years until mid-2028. Next, the Dutch right-back with forward spin, Jeremy Frimpong, should further extend his commitment to Leverkusen so that Bayer 04 can plan for the team’s key players in the medium term.
But that doesn’t have to mean that, as was rumored last week, top coach Alonso will continue to advance the sporting advancement of Leverkusen’s title candidates in the coming season. The man is hotly sought after – especially by his hometown club Real Madrid, which reportedly wants to appoint Alonso as head coach of the Spanish record champions and Champions League record winners from the 2024/25 season, when current coach Carlos Ancelotti becomes the Brazilian national coach.
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Until then, at least, Alonso’s Bayer work can continue to blossom and thrive. With the best prospects for great success, as it seems in early autumn of this year. At this point in time, Leverkusen have never scored twenty goals like they did after only the sixth Bundesliga matchday, and they have never achieved 16 points like they did now. The early starters, who are already looking forward to the Rhenish derby next Sunday against 1. FC Köln, who haven’t even started with a point yet, promise a lot. Given Vicecusen’s history, the big question remains whether it will be enough to achieve the ultimate goal of a championship.
