Despite the heavy defeat of Bayer Leverkusen (3-0) on Wednesday in the Europa League final, Xabi Alonso paid tribute to Atalanta Bergamo.
Bayer Leverkusen’s crazy series has come to an end. After 51 matches without defeat, the fresh champions of Germany stalled at the worst time, in the final of the Europa League. Accustomed to crazy comebacks, like the one against AS Roma during the second leg of the semi-finals, Xabi Alonso’s players this time never recovered from their failed start to the match.
Surprised from the start, Bayer Leverkusen actually lost their footing, taking a lesson in realism from Ademola Lookman to finally lose 3-0 on the pitch at the Aviva Stadium. Until then undefeated this season, Bayer Leverkusen saw their dream of a treble disappear and the disappointment was inevitably immense in the German ranks. However, Xabi Alonso showed himself to be a good player at the end of the meeting, paying tribute to his tormentor.
Xabi Alonso hopes for Bayer Leverkusen rebound in German Cup final
“It wasn’t our day, we have to accept that. We must congratulate Atalanta, they deserved to win. We didn’t manage to put our game together, they were better in everything. Atalanta’s intensity was stronger. We couldn’t get the pass into the opposing final third in good conditions. The whole team gave everything today, but it wasn’t enough, we have to accept that.”he confided to the microphone of RTL.
Bayer Leverkusen now has three days to recover. In the absence of a treble, Xabi Alonso’s men can still do the double by winning the German Cup, the final of which they will play on Saturday, against the sensation Kaiserslautern. “We must use this disappointment for our German Cup final on Saturday”whispered the Spanish technician to this effect.
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