The first defeat of the season is a heavy one for Bayer Leverkusen, on several levels. It’s the final of the Europa League, the result is clear – and Atalanta Bergamo has achieved what no one has achieved for a long time.
Bayer Leverkusen could have continued playing for hours without the outcome of the game having changed. The protagonists of this Europa League final have no illusions. “They were better today,” says coach Xabi Alonso after his team’s performance-based 0:3 (0:2) against Atalanta Bergamo and has to say: “Unfortunately our plan didn’t work.”
Atalanta achieved what all of Bayer’s opponents have failed to do so far this season: they limited the Werkself’s magic, severely disrupted their spell. And so, after an impressive 90 minutes, they were able to celebrate the first international title in their history. Leverkusen, on the other hand, began to investigate why they suffered their first defeat in the 52nd competitive game of the season. Why the aura of (apparent) invincibility that had surrounded the Werkself for months suddenly evaporated.
Bergamo dominated the action almost from kick-off. With a lot of passion and even more willingness to run, the supposed outsider takes control of the game right from the start. Maintains this control thanks to his strength in duels and the robust aggressiveness required for this. And doesn’t let it go until the final whistle. “It’s extremely bitter today,” says Robert Andrich, “but we have to be honest with ourselves: today it was deserved.”
Alonso: “We were missing a lot today”
In theory, everything is ready for the next big football evening by and with Bayer Leverkusen. In the seventh knockout game of this Europa League, Alonso’s eleven is behind for the fifth time, but unlike against Qarabag Agdam (round of 16 home and away leg), West Ham United (quarter-final second leg) and AS Roma (semi-final second leg), the comeback that has always saved at least a draw so far has failed to materialize. “It’s a shame that it didn’t work out in the final,” says captain Granit Xhaka, while Alonso sums up: “We were missing a lot today.”
When Bergamo’s Ademola Lookman made it 0-1 in the 12th minute, world champion Exequiel Palacios lacked the attention to see the Atalanta striker running behind him and prevent him from finishing on goal. When the score was 0-2 in the 26th minute, again through Lookman, it was the combination of a shot by goalkeeper Matej Kovar, a poor reception of the ball by Amine Adli and lost duels in midfield that gave the Nigerian international an excellent shooting position just in front of the edge of the penalty area .
Hardly any Leverkusen player reached their normal form that evening in Dublin. Mistakes creep in everywhere. When stopping the ball, in the build-up play, in header duels or in the classic one-on-one on the ground. “You’re not used to it from them,” said RTL expert Lothar Matthäus rightly, “but you have days like that.” The long-time professional footballer continued: “They dominated the game from the first second and Bayer Leverkusen never found a way to counter Atalanta’s aggressive and well-organized defense.”
Leverkusen is missing what was always there
Xhaka and Palacios are completely unable to control the pace or even the opponent in the center. Florian Wirtz runs and tries hard, but after just 35 minutes he seems so unnerved that he receives a yellow card for complaining. His teammates Amine Adli and Alejandro Grimaldo are unable to create any impact, and the technically strong Spaniard even misses miserably twice from promising positions.
Leverkusen barely gets into the opponent’s half and Alonso reacts early: he sends Victor Boniface to warm up in order to change sides after the break. The beefy striker is supposed to hold and distribute the balls, but this only succeeds with moderate success.
“But looking for the mistake in the tactical area is wrong,” analyzes Matthäus, and he is probably right: The unusual accumulation of individual errors is not due to the formation, nor to the instructions from the sidelines. The fact that these problems appear in almost all positions underlines that it seems to be the opponent in particular who is forcing them. “They took the edge off us in many areas,” says managing director Simon Rolfes, and explains: “We didn’t get into the game, we didn’t have enough pace and we didn’t find the free people to build up a rhythm.”
And so Leverkusen is missing what has made them stand out all season. The numerous late goals that have secured victories, draws and averted defeats seem out of reach this time. Alonso makes several changes, bringing in a second penalty area striker after Boniface, Patrik Schick, but neither poses a goal threat. The wing-backs Grimaldo (left) and Jeremie Frimpong (right) have to leave the pitch early because, unlike so often this season, they cannot get anywhere near the baseline on this Wednesday evening.
Fans chant “We’re going to Berlin.”
“They were better in everything and they deserve it,” Alonso has to admit. After Lookman’s 3-0 goal in the 75th minute, the game was decided for Atalanta Bergamo. Leverkusen failed to rally in the final minutes, as has been happening for months. “Perhaps they were tired from celebrating the championship, perhaps they were nervous before a European final,” wonders Matthäus. “I have no explanation for such a drop in performance compared to the whole season.”
Meanwhile, the fans in the Leverkusen block seem to have the whole season in mind after the final whistle. The disappointment of losing the final is quickly mixed with pride at having reached it at all. Gratitude for being able to experience such a journey through the European Cup. There are no whistles at all, instead chants of “Berlin, Berlin, we’re going to Berlin”. Alonso & Co. don’t have much time to grieve over the first defeat of the season. Otherwise the anger will affect their preparations for the last game of the season. And if you can pull off such a combination, you can’t have done too much wrong overall.