It hurts a lot, but we have to accept it, Xabi Alonso said after the EL final. Can Leverkusen recover and win the German Cup?

Atalanta Bergamo put an end to Bayer Leverkusen’s phenomenal run throughout the ongoing competition on Wednesday night. The German champion’s players were understandably disappointed after the game, as was Leverkusen’s current coach Xabi Alonso.

The Italian club took the lead in the 12th minute when Ademola Lookman got the ball behind Matej Kovar. The Nigerian striker repeated the feat fourteen minutes later to increase Atalanta’s lead to 2-0.

Losing 0:2? Nothing new for Leverkusen. That’s why the Italian team couldn’t celebrate yet. It was necessary to persevere, to stay disciplined, to follow the obviously excellent tactical instructions.

But Atalanta still did not allow their opponents to do anything. In the 75th minute, Lookman scored his third goal and completed his hat-trick. He became the first player ever to do so in a Europa League final. For Leverkusen, one thing has been rather usual this season.

And that was that when they were losing, they could either equalise or even turn it around. But in the Europa League final, Bayer couldn’t do it. Even so, they have made an indelible mark in the annals of football. Their unbeaten streak lasted an incredible 51 games, 361 days since their last defeat.

It is also clear now that Leverkusen will not reach the treble this season. But after winning the title, it can still be a double and a stylish end to a very successful season. Their opponents in the DFB Pokal final will be Kaiserslautern. However, what does coach Xabi Alonso have to say about losing in the Europa League final?

Xabi Alonso on losing the Europa League final…

“We had a bad day today. It hurts immensely that it happened in such an important match, but we have to accept it. We didn’t want to change our style of play, but today it didn’t work well. We had a few problems,” said the Leverkusen coach in the post-match press conference.

“We have to accept defeat. Atalanta were better and deserve this trophy today. We didn’t find enough solutions after conceding the first goal. We were ready for many one-on-one situations, but we failed to finish,” continued Xabi Alonso.

“You don’t forget the final. Each of us – and I too – will learn from today’s experience. We have another challenge ahead of us: Can we recover from today’s pain? We’ll see on Saturday if we can deal with it,” he concluded.

Source: UEFA Europe League, Bayer Leverkusen, X