Xabi Alonso admits will probably be a problem to cope with the painful finish of Bayer Leverkusen’s 51-match unbeaten run.
Atalanta’s 3-0 win within the Europa League last in Dublin means Leverkusen’s 36-year watch for European silverware goes on, regardless that they’ve already sealed their first Bundesliga title and have the prospect to finish the double after they face Kaiserslautern within the German Cup Remaining on Saturday.
Alonso praised Atalanta as a ‘particular workforce’ and advised TNT Sports activities: “We weren’t planning to have a foul day at this time. We couldn’t cope. It was not meant to be, the unbeaten run has come to an finish, however they deserve it.
“It was not about techniques, they had been higher. Now we have one other last on Saturday and can attempt to be taught. The outcome doesn’t change a bit how proud I’m of my gamers.
“We had been lifting the Bundesliga on Saturday and have the prospect to win the German Cup on Saturday once more.
“This season has handed all expectations. My first yr as a coach, it’s going fairly nicely. For certain I’ll be taught from at this time.”
He added to uefa.com: “It hurts, for certain, however we have to use this ache in a constructive approach. It’s fairly distinctive what we’ve got achieved and we’ve got to be proud. We’ll be taught. We had an enormous probability and we put the whole lot towards at this time, nevertheless it didn’t go as deliberate.
“We weren’t at our greatest degree: everybody, myself included. So we’ll be taught from at this time. It’s going to be a problem, how we reply to defeat and cope with the ache.”
Will Xabi Alonso and Leverkusen discover a approach again? 🤔#UELfinal pic.twitter.com/6u26qmlaPe
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) May 22, 2024
The potential for an unbeaten 53 recreation invincible season had been the speak of European soccer for weeks however Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka advised RTL: “Actually, we’re not within the unbeaten report. We didn’t care about that from the beginning. It’s in regards to the recreation and sadly we misplaced a last at this time. That’s soccer. We mentioned yesterday that it could be a troublesome recreation. Compliments to Atalanta.
“It’s a disgrace it didn’t work out within the last. We regarded so good up till this recreation and the truth that we didn’t handle to do what we often achieve this nicely within the last is part of the sport. Now we have to simply accept that.”
His teammate Robert Andrich, advised RTL: “I might have most well-liked it to have been some unimportant recreation. It’s extraordinarily robust to take however we’ve got to be trustworthy with ourselves. It was deserved at this time, so we’ve got to exit with our heads held excessive and congratulate Atalanta. They undoubtedly deserved it greater than us at this time.”
Jonathan Tah, Leverkusen captain, added to RTL: “It’s an enormous disappointment, in fact. If you’ve obtained this far, you need a completely different outcome. That’s the frame of mind proper now. Nonetheless, we’ve got to maintain going. We nonetheless have a really, crucial recreation forward of us. Even when it hurts proper now, you must permit the ache. We transfer on from tomorrow.
“They completely deserved to win at this time. We didn’t discover our approach into our recreation. They had been extra aggressive within the duels, left us little or no house and subsequently deserved to win in opposition to us at this time.”
