Xabi Alonso saluted Bayer Leverkusen's professionalism during their 5-1 rout of Freiburg.

The reigning Bundesliga champions brought the curtain down on a memorable 2024 in dominant fashion at BayArena.

Patrik Schick scored four times while Florian Wirtz was also on target, as second-place Leverkusen cut the gap on leaders Bayern Munich to four points again heading into the winter break.

Alonso chalked up his 50th win as a Bundesliga coach after just 75 matches, with only Pep Guardiola taking fewer such games to reach the half-century (61).

Nevertheless, the Leverkusen boss was adamant the contest was not as straightforward for his side as the scoreline suggested.

"The result may have been spectacular and Patrik scored four goals, but the game was not as easy as it seemed," he told reporters. "We had a good opponent, and we had to prepare our actions intelligently.

"When a striker scores four goals, you can't complain. Patrik also does a lot of work off the ball and when he does that well, that's why he scores the goals. He helps the team, and they make chances for him.

"It was a very important victory for us today. We wanted to continue our sequence and go into the break with a good feeling. We managed that. We will continue to attack in the new year.

"That gives everyone a good feeling. We have big ambitions to continue fighting for our goals in 2025, and we want to achieve a lot together."