Former Bayern Munich midfielder Xabi Alonso is intimately familiar with the power of his old club.
The Bayer Leverkusen manager, however, will be devising ways to counter anything thrown at his squad in hopes of ripping three points from the Bavarians and climbing back into contention for the Bundesliga crown.
“It’s a big game. We’re playing at home against FC Bayern, it’s always a top and special game. We’re playing against a top team in Germany and in Europe. We expect from ourselves to show a good level and play well, and then we’ll see,” said Alonso (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “We’re preparing our ideas, we’re playing at home, but against Bayern there are always moments where we have to understand in which phase we are. But we’re competitive and we have to prepare well to achieve that.
“Our dynamic and Bayern’s dynamic is to play every three days. So I don’t think that’s a big advantage (for Bayer Leverkusen to have a bye through the Champions League playoff round, while Bayern Munich had to face Celtic FC on Wednesday). It’s normal for Bayern to prepare for a game in only one day. As always, they were dominant (against Celtic). They played with a lot of dominance, a lot of intensity, big individual and collective quality, the counter pressing was good. It’s nothing new, we’ve already played them twice. We’ll see.”
Just a year ago, Bayer Leverkusen thrashed Bayern Munich 3-0, which signified the club’s status as the frontrunner to win the Bundesliga. Alonso said that result is irrelevant now.
“It’s another Bayern. The energy, the intensity, the structure, they’re doing very well. They’re destroying many opponents, they create many chances and don’t concede many. It’s going to be a very demanding game for us defensively. But we want to play our football as well and find the right balance,” said Alonso.
The Bayer Leverkusen coach is also well-aware of the primary subplot of the match — a face-off between Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala and Bayer Leverkusen’s Florian Wirtz.
“Flo and Jamal are two of the best players in the world. So for Germany and for Julian [Nagelsmann], that’s a big gift” Alonso on whether the statements from Bayern bosses about Wirtz caused unrest in Leverkusen: “No, not at all. We’re staying focused, Flo and all others. Rumours are nothing new in football. For us it’s no problem. Flo is having fun, he wants to stay here and wants to play here. He can develop and be successful here,” Alonso stated.
Finally, Alonso was asked if this match represented a “final”-type game for Bayer Leverkusen— a sentiment which Alonso said was not the case.
“No, not a final. Of course after the game we’ll see how big the gap is. But it’s definitely not a final,” said Alonso.
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