Alonso Holds Pride In Leverkusen Despite Europa League Final Loss To Atalanta

Xabi Alonso remains proud of Bayer Leverkusen's season despite their Europa League final defeat to Atalanta, which ended their 51-game unbeaten streak. The Bundesliga champions were aiming for a treble, with the DFB-Pokal final still to come, but suffered a 3-0 loss on Wednesday. Ademola Lookman led Gian Piero Gasperini's side to their first title in 61 years with a hat-trick.

Leverkusen's European heartbreak marked their first loss of the season, with their last defeat occurring against Bochum on the final day of the 2022-23 Bundesliga campaign. Alonso, a former Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder, expressed that the result does not diminish his pride in his team. "For me, the result today does not change one bit how I feel about my players or what we have been doing," Alonso told TNT Sports.

He added, "It hurts because we wanted to lift the trophy but you can't have everything. We lifted the Bundesliga and we have the chance to lift the DFB-Pokal on Saturday. Today just wasn't the day. We are incredibly proud of our Europa League journey and all of our fans for taking it with us together."

Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) May 22, 2024

Leverkusen became the first team to win the league title but lose the UEFA Cup/Europa League final in the same season since Benfica in 2013-14, and the first German side to do so since Borussia Dortmund in 2001-02. "This season and achievements have surpassed all expectations," Alonso continued. "I was hoping and getting ready to maybe do something great but this has been so much more."

He added, "To achieve what we have for a club like Leverkusen is great. To be in the last week of the season having lifted the Bundesliga and then going for the Pokal too means a lot. First year as a coach, it is going quite well!"

UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) May 22, 2024

The Aviva Stadium witnessed Atalanta's first major European trophy as they became the 10th different Italian side to do so, second only to teams from England (13). Alonso was not surprised by Gasperini's excellence. "It is not something they have just done this year; they have been doing it for many years," he said.

Alonso acknowledged Gasperini's work, stating, "They are a special team. Normally we get in better positions ourselves but today we could not. We were not able to come back and get that back. It was not meant to be. The unbeaten run has come to an end but congratulations to Atalanta; they deserve it."