Bayer Leverkusen remains unbeaten this season. However, the series was almost broken in the Europa League. Coach Alonso sees the mistake in himself.
Xabi Alonso was surprisingly self-critical – he just didn’t want to explain it in more detail. “We didn’t have good control in the first half today and didn’t get into the final third well,” said the Bayer Leverkusen coach after the 2-2 (0-2) first leg of the Europa League round of 16 at Qarabağ Ağdam: “That was “My mistake. I know why that happened. And we’re trying to improve it for the future.”
The Spaniard fended off the suggestion of what exactly his mistake had been with a charming smile and said: “No, no, that stays between us.”
At first glance, it was too much rotation with eight changes compared to the 2-0 derby win at 1. FC Köln. But above all the decision to leave the two drivers Granit Xhaka and Florian Wirtz on the bench at the same time. When both came in the 58th minute when the score was 0-2, the game turned around. Wirtz also scored the Bundesliga leaders’ 100th competitive goal this season (70th minute).
35 competitive games without defeat
“I don’t know whether that was a mistake,” said Alonso: “After the result, you can of course say it was one. But we play in three competitions, so we can’t always play with the same team.” Alonso’s self-criticism is surprising because he has often chosen risky formations when balancing in the three competitions this season – and so far he has always been right.
But despite Leverkusen’s worst half this season, their incredible streak of 35 competitive games without defeat continues. But the coach wasn’t interested in the series. “I’m not obsessed with it,” he said: “It may happen at some point. But if it happens, I won’t be worried.”
But with 0:2 at halftime there was more at stake. “It wasn’t an easy moment,” admitted the former world and European champion: “It wasn’t a Bundesliga game, but a knockout game. We had to be careful that we didn’t get 0-3 or a fourth and thus lose the entire round of the game .”