The myth of invincibility is over, but Xabi Alonso is not worried about his championship-winning team. “But I have no reason to believe that we won’t come back,” said the head coach of Bayer Leverkusen after the end of the super series of 35 Bundesliga games in a row without defeat. Nevertheless, the 2:3 defeat against RB Leipzig sent two signals to the competition in the Bundesliga. Firstly, there will be no march through the defending champions like last year, and secondly, Leipzig can play for the title despite the loss of Dani Olmo. “We have to believe in ourselves because we have incredible potential,” said RB sporting director Rouven Schröder.
The match between the two Champions League participants kept its promise. It was a spectacle between two top teams, with a little excitement surrounding Leipzig coach Marco Rose, who was banished to the stands early on, beautiful goals and suspense right up to the end. “This game had everything and was fascinating for the spectators,” said Schröder.
No quick reprocessing
The ambitious Alonso would have liked to have started the next training session quickly after the match. “We made very big mistakes after the 2-0 and we have to learn from these mistakes,” said the 42-year-old. “But unfortunately there is an international break and I don’t have the players in the dressing room tomorrow,” said Alonso, whose team was already 2-0 ahead after a strong first half thanks to goals from Jeremie Frimpong (39th minute) and Alejandro Grimaldo (45th), before ex-Leverkusen player Kevin Kampl (45th+7) and Lois Openda turned the game around completely with two goals (57th/80th).
Not everything was a disaster, said Alonso. Bayer CEO Simon Rolfes even rated his team’s first half as the best of the season so far. The 42-year-old nevertheless recognised the mistakes. “We have to defend more decisively and improve the stability of the whole team,” said Rolfes. In addition, Hradecky’s replacement Matej Kovar was rather unlucky when Openda conceded goals.
Alonso praises Tah’s attitude
On the positive side, however, the end of the transfer rumors surrounding Jonathan Tah is good. “It’s good that the transfer period is over. Then things will calm down and we can concentrate on football,” said Rolfes. Leverkusen’s defense chief, who is in his tenth season under the Bayer cross, was once again one of his team’s best players.
“His attitude over the last ten days was great. He is intelligent and understood the situation. We are very happy that he is staying with us. Jona is in a great moment,” said Alonso, praising his national player. However, the 28-year-old was unable to prevent the defeat. As in the previous season, Leipzig proved to be an unpleasant opponent in the narrow 2:3 defeat against Bayer. “They are a good team that takes advantage of every chance we give them,” explained Tah.
RB coach Rose could be proud of his game plan, mirroring Leverkusen’s system and calling up a young central defender in El-Chadaille Bitshiabu for the first time in the starting eleven, but less so of his wild behavior on the sidelines. He provoked the yellow-red card for repeated moaning. But the 47-year-old quickly showed understanding. “It’s my fault. The referee reacted completely correctly,” explained Rose, who had to go to the stands after just under half an hour. “Once I left, things went well.”
