Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen is worried about two injured key players after the semi-final first leg in the Europa League at AS Roma (0-1). Odilon Kossounou suffered a torn muscle fibre, bringing his season to an early end. Coach Xabi Alonso fears a fracture in Robert Andrich’s left foot.
“There is a risk that Robert will have a serious injury. There is this concern,” said Alonso on Friday morning during a press round in Rome, speaking of “bad news”. His team will not leave Italy until Saturday for the Bundesliga game on Sunday (3:30 p.m. / DAZN) at VfB Stuttgart, which is threatened with relegation.
“We still have time to decide which players to rotate,” said Alonso. “We’re in the semi-finals of the Europa League, but we want to get back into the Europa League again. We’ll have a good team.”
Immediately after Stuttgart, however, the focus will be on the second leg on Thursday. “We have to win. We will have the motivation to play a good game in a top mood,” said Alonso. “If you want to reach a final, you have to be ready for a comeback. We need that – and we have to give everything for it.”