Xabi Alonso’s dream of a remarkable unbeaten treble is over after Bayer Leverkusen’s defeat to Atalanta in the Europa League final. The former midfielder’s comments after the game might sound familiar to Liverpool fans.
Ademola Lookman’s sensational hat-trick saw the Italian side win its first-ever European trophy, and end Leverkusen’s 51-game unbeaten run in the process.
Despite Leverkusen going into the game as favorites, Atalanta was thoroughly deserving of its victory. Gian Piero Gasperini masterminded another big scalp after earlier knocking Liverpool out of the competition in the quarter-finals.
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The defeat left Alonso in a reflective mood, with the 42-year-old conceding his side deserved to taste defeat for the first time this season. The former Liverpool midfielder admitted Atalanta made things too difficult for his team.
“We were not planning to have a bad day today but for sure we had that,” Alonso told TNT Sports. “It was not meant to be today. We could not cope with many difficult situations that we were preparing because Atalanta, they demand so much from you, one-vs-one situations, duels.
“But we were not getting the ball in the right positions with advantage because they do that so good and we were not able to come back. So it was not meant to be, the unbeaten run has come to an end, but congratulations to Atalanta. They deserve it so nothing more to say.”
Alonso’s comments might well sound familiar to Liverpool fans. Jürgen Klopp struck a similar note when the Reds suffered a shock 3-0 defeat to Atalanta at Anfield.
“It was a really bad game, oh my God,” Klopp said after the defeat last month. “They broke, they scored and we just lost the plot a little bit. We were here and there in midfield, I didn’t recognize it.
“It was really strange but in football terms it was tactical discipline. They scored and we kept playing into their hands. We played a bad game and we deserved to lose.”
Liverpool.com says: You have to give credit to Atalanta and Gasperini. They completely unsettled Liverpool and Leverkusen, and in the end are fully deserving winners of the Europa League.
Klopp can perhaps take some solace now in knowing he wasn’t the only one to be bested by Gasperini. Defeat in the final shouldn’t take anything away from Alonso’s achievements this season, but it is a big learning curve for him as he prepares to take his side into the Champions League next season.