The biggest cheer of the afternoon at the BayArena was a result from elsewhere. A stunning first league defeat of the season for Bayern Munich at home to Augsburg was not important in any sort of title race context – any faint thoughts of that disappeared a while back, and not just for Bayer Leverkusen. No, the shock result of the afternoon, the week, the month, the season means Xabi Alonso’s 2024 double winners remain the only unbeaten Bundesliga champions.

“You’re welcome,” said Augsburg’s English language X account, quote-tweeting Leverkusen’s acknowledgment that their record would endure for at least a season more. And if ever Die Werkself needed a lift, it was here and now. They may have stopped the rot with a single-goal win over Werder Bremen, following a run of four losses in their previous six Bundesliga matches, but it was as bare minimum as the scoreline suggested. Against similarly out-of-form opponents (more so, in fact – Bremen last won on 7 November, nine games ago), they crawled to three points. “We are very relieved,” admitted Kasper Hjulmand with laudable candour.

It could be little more. In a season where unprecedented levels of upheaval have required a list of bare minimum targets to be set, Saturday’s game was that aim in microcosm. The match against Werder was not one in which a victory could make their season but defeat might have come pretty close to breaking it for a second time. Three losses to start a calendar year is never good but the manner of Leverkusen’s has been particularly damaging.

This start to 2026 hasn’t proven that Hjulmand’s nascent reign is built on sand, but it is certainly made of glass. The coach was receiving plaudits as the campaign led into Christmas for the way in which he had produced a strong run of results – most notably the Pokal win at Borussia Dortmund and Champions League victory at Manchester City – despite inheriting what might be described as a fixer-upper from Erik ten Hag. Recent setbacks might deserve to be taken in context, but the poor start to the year has alarmed on two levels. Firstly, in that the performances have been wan to the extent of being unrecognisable from the team that finished 2025. Secondly, because the period recalled that even if qualifying for the Champions League after such a period of turbulence would be commendable, it is also required.

With that in mind it was almost appropriate that a hard-fought victory was won in that way, showing an appetite to match the undeniable aptitude in the squad. It was doubly fitting that Lucas Vázquez slotted in the first-half winner, his first goal for the club. “We had a lot of experience on the pitch,” Hjulmand said, “which was very important.” The approach was clear. Leverkusen fielded their oldest XI of the season, with an average age of a touch under 29. For Vázquez this was just a fourth Bundesliga start after a season peppered with recurrent back issues. While his minutes are clearly being managed, he is growing in influence. Leverkusen knew a couple of key mature players would be key for them in the rough spots that the chief executive, Fernando Carro, and the sporting director, Simon Rolfes, had foreseen. This is very much one of those spots.

This, of course, is exactly why beating Bremen is “not a salvation but a sedative”, in the words of Kicker’s Stephan von Nocks. Dealing with the here and now to earn the right to progress is nothing new for Leverkusen. It was the Alonso route to success after all. Yet if experience and steadiness is the way in the short term, there is a balance to be found. In Hjulmand’s safety-first lineup, Loïc Badé has been shoehorned into the left centre-back slot, next to Robert Andrich – one of the old reliables – and across from Jarell Quansah. This leaves a couple of questions, though; can the defence deal with a lack of pace on a side which the virtuoso Álex Grimaldo doesn’t always (and shouldn’t have to) offer the most cover, and what to do with Jeanuël Belocian?

The 20-year-old Frenchman has slipped out of the rotation since the home humiliation against Stuttgart, and there has already been interest from Borussia Mönchengladbach to take him on loan. Even a temporary move would be unlikely with Die Werkself stretched by injuries, but there surely has to be a plan to work Belocian back in. Developing young talents, after all, should and will continue to be Leverkusen’s modus operandi. Eliesse Ben Seghir is another big talent in no man’s land at present, and Rolfes admitted he could be loaned back to Monaco to play himself back into form, if he recovers from an ankle injury sustained at the Africa Cup of Nations. At least Ibrahim Maza, also recently returned from Afcon, is flying the flag for the youngsters. The best player on the field on Saturday, Maza’s deft pass set up Vázquez’s winner.

The next step is making sure of another requirement. Leverkusen will make it into the Champions League top 24 and continue the campaign into February should they beat Villarreal, again at the BayArena, on Wednesday, with Marcelino and company arriving in north-west Germany on a run of three straight losses. However, nothing at the moment is a given for Leverkusen. It can only be about putting one foot in front of the other.

Talking points

• At least Bayern’s loss was there to cheer Leverkusen up, and surprise doesn’t even cover it. Few took note when the interim Augsburg coach, Manuel Baum, talked about creating a day to remember pre-kick-off but after trailing to a first-half Hiroki Ito header they stormed back, and their win was neither stolen nor undeserved. Arthur Chaves was the hero, his header finding the net after a misjudgment by goalkeeper Jonas Urbig just two training sessions into his spell with Die Fuggerstädter, having joined on loan from Hoffenheim, with Han-Noah Massengo later scoring the winner. All of which meant the not-involved players currently negotiating new deals, Manuel Neuer and Dayot Upamecano, were probably the two big Bayern winners.

• There were eyes swivelling to the future in Berlin too, where Nico Schlotterbeck scored the middle goal of Dortmund’s 3-0 win at Union, a welcome tonic after midweek misery at Tottenham. “I set myself a deadline,” said Schlotterbeck to Sky of deciding his BVB future, with a contract which expires in 2027, “but I won’t say what it is.” Dortmund are reported to even be offering an exit clause, contrary to their normal stance, in order to keep the Germany centre-back.

• Far more settled but much less smiley is Deniz Undav, who scored in Stuttgart’s 3-0 win at Gladbach which kept them fourth, but clapped a gossiping hand at fans after his goal following criticism for missing chances in the midweek defeat at Roma. “After just two games [of not scoring] there’s this constant nagging from all sides,” complained Undav. “So I wanted to say – just shut up.”