Swiss National Team coach Murat Yakin hopes Xhaka and Leverkusen will win the Bundesliga

Swiss national team coach Murat Yakin expressed joy if team captain Granit Xhaka and Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga championship, believing this would elevate the quality of Swiss football.

In a conference of 24 coaches attending EURO 2024 in Düsseldorf, Coach Murat Yakin shared that he would be “extremely happy” if Granit Xhaka – the captain of the Swiss national team – and Bayer Leverkusen won the Bundesliga championship this season. Yakin jokingly added, “Who knows, Xhaka might even lift 2-3 more cups!”

According to Yakin, the more titles, the more confident Xhaka will be when returning to wear the national team jersey. He emphasized, “Xhaka is our most important player. He is the captain, leading the entire team. In every training session, everyone sees that Xhaka always wants to win. That ability and quality brings added value to any team.”

Yakin also praised Leverkusen’s Xabi Alonso. He believes that Leverkusen not only benefits from Xhaka’s talent, but conversely, Xhaka also learns a lot from the Spanish strategist. “You can feel the passion, energy and joy Alonso has for his work. It shows clearly in their players and their style of play,” Yakin observed.

In this season, Leverkusen has a great opportunity to win a historic triple with the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal and Europa League championships. If that happens, Xhaka will surely be bursting with enthusiasm when joining the Swiss national team in the EURO 2024 campaign, where they will face hosts Germany in the group stage.

Group A – Switzerland

Coach: Murat Yakin

Euro: Quarterfinals (2020)

World Cup: Quarterfinals (1934, 1938, 1954)

FIFA Ranking: 19th (as of February 15, 2024)

Current Euro 2024 Switzerland squad: Overview of all players (As of: March 28, 2024)

Goalkeepers

Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund) Yvon Mvogo (FC Lorient) Yann Sommer (Inter Milan) David von Ballmoos (BSC Young Boys)

Defenders

Manuel Akanji (Manchester City) Eray Cömert (FC Nantes) Nico Elvedi (Borussia Mönchengladbach) Kevin Mbabu (FC Augsburg) Bećir Omeragić (Montpellier HSC) Ricardo Rodríguez (Torino FC) Fabian Schär (Newcastle United) Silvan Widmer (1. FSV Mainz 05) Cédric Zesiger (VfL Wolfsburg)

Midfielders

Michel Aebischer (FC Bologna) Uran Bislimi (FC Lugano) Remo Freuler (FC Bologna) Ulisses Garcia (Olympique Marseille) Dereck Kutesa (FC Servette) Xherdan Shaqiri (Chicago Fire) Vincent Sierro (FC Toulouse) Renato Steffen (FC Lugano) Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen) Denis Zakaria (AS Monaco)

Forwards

Zeki Amdouni (Burnley FC) Dan Ndoye (FC Bologna) Noah Okafor (AC Milan) Ruben Vargas (FC Augsburg)

Topics: Granit Xhaka, Bayer Leverkusen, Murat Yakin, Xabi Alonso, Swiss National Team, EURO 2024, Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Europa League