Bayer Leverkusen will present they’re a whole group towards Bayern Munich within the Champions League even with out the injured Florian Wirtz, says head coach Xabi Alonso.
Leverkusen confirmed on Monday that Wirtz will miss “a number of weeks” with an ankle ligament damage, having come off throughout Saturday’s Bundesliga loss to Werder Bremen.
The information of Wirtz’s damage is a significant blow to the German champions, who misplaced 3-0 to home rivals Bayern within the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie final week.
On Tuesday, Leverkusen will intention to grow to be simply the fifth facet in Champions League historical past to lose the primary leg of a knockout stage tie by three or extra objectives and nonetheless progress.
The one groups to ever achieve this are Deportivo de La Coruua in 2003-04 (versus Milan), Barcelona in 2016-17 (towards Paris Saint-Germain), Roma in 2017-18 and Liverpool in 2018-19 (each towards Barcelona).
Alonso doesn’t really feel a comeback is past his group, even with out Wirtz.
“I’m actually sorry for him as a result of he was in a high second,” Alonso stated on Monday. “Now it’s a good second to indicate we’re a whole group and that we are able to go on with out him.
“As soon as the ball is rolling, many surprising issues can occur. For us, this sport is all-in, make or break.”
Wirtz, who has scored 9 league objectives this marketing campaign and arrange one other 10, has additionally netted one other six instances within the Champions League,
He can even miss Germany’s Nations League quarter-final tie towards Italy on March 20 and March 23 and is unlikely to return for the DFB-Pokal semi-finals towards Arminia Bielefeld on April 1.
Whereas overturning a 3-0 deficit towards Bayern is a big problem, Alonso says Leverkusen should go into Tuesday’s sport with self-belief.
“The very first thing now we have to do is to imagine, and for the followers to additionally imagine from the primary second that we are able to do it,” the Spaniard stated.
“It’s a sport of one other dimension. We should play with coronary heart, ardour and mind. We’ve an opportunity and should struggle till the top.
“However with an enormous state of affairs it’s also possible to obtain one thing epic. The damage is also a lift, to say we struggle for the large sport but in addition for Flo.”
“The group is satisfied we are able to do it for a lot of causes however one is that we’re able the place now we have nothing to lose. All Bayern followers imagine they are going to undergo.”
