It didn't even matter that Victor Boniface had put Leverkusen ahead 1-0 in the 25th minute via a penalty.
Bremen could always score, Leverkusen could go on a losing streak, Bayern could win it all - stranger things have happened in football.
On the hour mark, Granit Xhaka picks up the ball deep on the edge of Leverkusen's box, turns and drives forward.
In the 83rd minute, Exequiel Palacios catches Bremen high up the pitch and releases Wirtz with a long ball.
And for that, Leverkusen's coronation takes our Moment of the Weekend.
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They were really tempting fate.
From placing a sticker to rename the street outside their stadium in Xabi Alonso's name to the certainty of coronation with the pre-match celebrations and arrangements, Bayer Leverkusen were the polar opposites of what a superstitious football fan would do when approaching the end of a trophy drought.
Witness Athletic Bilbao banning all mention of the word 'gabbara' prior to their Copa del Rey win or Argentinian fans and their 'anulo mufa' meme before their World Cup victory. You don't celebrate till it's done.
For the fans who were around for Leverkusen's generation of nearly men at the turn of the millennium, that saw their club lose out on the Bundesliga title, the DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League in last-gasp, heart-wrenching ways within a few weeks, the moniker 'Neverkusen' would always be around in the back of their minds. No matter that this current vintage had made the joint best-ever start to a Bundesliga season and had the joint best-ever unbeaten run in all competitions in Europe's Top 5 leagues coming into their game against Werder Bremen.
It didn't even matter that Victor Boniface had put Leverkusen ahead 1-0 in the 25th minute via a penalty. For some fans, it's never done until it's done. Especially after the barrage of chances that hit the woodwork, last-ditch blocks and saves preventing that second goal. Bremen could always score, Leverkusen could go on a losing streak, Bayern could win it all - stranger things have happened in football.
Except this team doesn't do fate. It does football, or rather, Xabi-ball.
On the hour mark, Granit Xhaka picks up the ball deep on the edge of Leverkusen's box, turns and drives forward. His teammates scamper forward, knowing he can pick them with one of his raking forward passes. Bremen know this too, and get back in numbers, aware of Leverkusen's threat in transition. There is a twist though - Jonas Hoffman and Boniface have held back a bit. Xhaka plays it to Hoffman on the right-central side of the pitch, who in turn, plays a long diagonal to Boniface.
The Nigerian striker drives forward, cutting inside from the left. A drop of the shoulder and he's beaten two defenders closing him down. Yet, Bremen have the numbers, they've dropped back to prevent the transition. Only Boniface chooses it to pass it square to Xhaka ...
There about 35 yards to goal. It doesn't matter. Xhaka caresses the ball first time with his wand of a left foot. It has everything: placement, power, curl. A pure, perfect strike that nestles in the top corner of the net. Leverkusen 2-0. It's done.
Photo by Alexander Scheuber/Bundesliga/Bundesliga Collection via Getty Images)
The BayArena erupted, Xhaka ran over to celebrate with a knee-slide, the man who conducted them on the pitch all season a befitting scorer on the day Leverkusen ended their hoodoo. Surely the party would begin now? Not even Neverkusen could throw it away from here. That moniker had now been tweaked to Neverlusen after all. And yet there were some old hearts within the crowd who would not allow themselves to believe. Not until it was *really* done.
It's for those old hearts who'd never seen their club win a top-flight title in the 120 years of the club's history that 20-year-old Florian Wirtz then did what he did.
Wirtz picks the ball up in midfield in the 68th minute from teammate Robert Andrich. There's only one thing on his mind - a couple of touches forward and he unleashes a howziter from range. It travels straight and true, and leaves the keeper no chance. 3-0.
Would they believe now?
In the 83rd minute, Exequiel Palacios catches Bremen high up the pitch and releases Wirtz with a long ball. A touch to control, then to drive towards goal, and the surety of finish that is befitting of this team's confidence. 4-0
Now?
It's the 90th minute of the game. The stadium a sea of red smoke from the flares lit up in celebration - almost as if a Hollywood script writer were penning this. Alex Grimaldo - the defender with the most assists in Europe's Top 5 leagues, runs forward, and plays a piercing low diagonal to Wirtz on the right edge of the box. The German youngster takes a touch to run into the box, fends off his marker's challenge and arrows it into the bottom corner. His first-ever senior hat-trick and it is 5-0. It's done.
Even the referee agreed.
5-0, the whistle was blown and the fans, understandably, set off on a pitch invasion. Xabi Alonso and his band of merry men ended Bayern Munich's incredible run of 11 consecutive Bundesliga titles. They had made the undisputed best-ever start to a Bundesliga season (on track for a record total of 94 points), and they'd now been unbeaten across all competitions longer than any other team ever in the history of Europe's Top 5 leagues.
On Sunday, even fate, tempted, couldn't beat them. And for that, Leverkusen's coronation takes our Moment of the Weekend.
