At Bayer 04, Nathan Tella has developed into a serious alternative for the starting eleven in 2024. Leverkusen’s role as favorites in the title race following their victory in the summit meeting (3-0 against champions Bayern) leaves him cold, but not the extraordinary atmosphere in the home arena
The atmosphere in the BayArena still brings a sparkle to Nathan Tella’s eyes days after the spectacle. The Englishman with Nigerian roots, who had already spoken of the craziest atmosphere he had ever experienced in his Bundesliga debut against Darmstadt 98 (5:1) at the beginning of September, was of course also blown away after the 3:0 win against Bayern Munich.
“Now it was probably even crazier …”, Tella said of the acoustic backdrop in the arena. “A lot of my friends were here. They said: ‘It’s completely different to England. It’s so exciting, the fans are incredible.”
Which puts paid to the preconception that the atmosphere in Premier League stadiums is the best in the world. Tella should know, as he himself is an ardent supporter of Arsenal FC, where the 24-year-old trained in their youth academy.
The favorites for the championship? “It doesn’t change anything for us “
The striker, who joined from Southampton FC for just under €20 million in the summer, is euphoric about the atmosphere in the BayArena. When it comes to Bayer 04’s title chances, however, a completely different attitude prevails at the works club. Here, the situation is assessed objectively and soberly by the professionals – despite the five-point lead and the convincing 3-0 win over Bayern.
Tella explained Leverkusen’s statements in the mixed zone after the victory in the top match, which were not only relatively controlled, as simple as they were logical. “We haven’t won anything yet,” says the attacker, “it’s good to win every game, but if we don’t get anything to show for it at the end of the season, it would all be for nothing. That’s the reason why.”
Accordingly, Tella is not affected by the role of favorite that Bayer 04 now has in the title race. “That doesn’t change anything for us. We want to play as well as possible in every game. We look forward to a game like Saturday, we play it and then we look at what we can do better and what we did well. And then it’s on to the next game. “
Tella in the fast lane
Just keep going. No matter whether the opponent is FC Bayern or 1. FC Heidenheim like next Saturday. But while Bayer’s aim is to maintain their current status, Tella is continuing to improve theirs
In the first half of the season, the speedy right winger made a big step forward in 2024, starting only six group games in the Europa League and in the cup match in Sandhausen, but only making brief appearances as a substitute in the league. As a substitute and goalscorer in the 3-2 win in Leipzig, he was just as impressive on the right wing in a 3-4-3 as he was in the 2-0 win in Darmstadt, when he scored a brace as a starting player. And Tella, who started in attack this time, also got on the scoresheet against Bayern with his assist for the 2:0.
The Nigerian international, who benefited from being left out of his country’s provisional squad for the recently concluded Africa Cup, has since developed into a genuine option for the starting eleven. Even if he is likely to be back on the bench in Heidenheim for the time being, he has increased his chances of personally creating a crazy atmosphere in the BayArena more often in the future
