Soccer Europa League - "I'm not crying": Alonso not afraid of Africa Cup crash
The third goalkeeper played for the first time in almost three years, an 18-year-old was involved in two goals and, in the end, a 16-year-old became the youngest German in Europa League history: in sporting terms, Bayer Leverkusen's only concern at the end of the preliminary round against Molde FK was to complete the perfect group stage. But the significance of the 5:1 victory was not to be underestimated, either internally or externally. Because it meant: Bayer has far more than just a strong first eleven.
"It makes us strong that we have so many people in the back who are eager to play," said Robert Andrich, who is currently mostly just a substitute himself, although he became an international in the fall. Coach Xabi Alonso made nine substitutions against Molde. He handed out rewards to goalkeeper Niklas Lomb and teenagers Noah Mbamba (18) and Ken Izekor (16). Stars such as Florian Wirtz, Granit Xhaka, Victor Boniface and Jeremie Frimpong were allowed to rest for 90 minutes. Nevertheless, even in this constellation Bayer celebrated genuine fun soccer, in which the Norwegian cup winners were merely a sparring partner.
This sign was so important because the competition - as BVB coach Edin Terzic recently let slip quite bluntly - has only one real hope against Leverkusen's run of 20 wins in 23 competitive matches without defeat: That Bayer will flounder when up to five stars are missing from January due to the Africa Cup. Boniface, Edmond Tapsoba, Odilon Kossounou, Amine Adli and Nathan Tella could miss the cup quarter-final against Stuttgart or important league games such as Leipzig or Bayern.
"I'm not crying. I'm not a victim," said Alonso: "We have enough players." Sporting director Simon Rolfes explained: "We have always said that we have many, many good players. The team enjoys playing soccer. No matter who comes in. Let's wait and see who ends up being nominated for the Africa Cup and how long they miss. But the ones who are there are all at a very, very good level."
Information on the match at uefa.com (in German)
Read also:
- A clan member is punished here
- Traffic lawyer warns: Don't talk to the police!
- Will he be convicted as Jutta's murderer after 37 years?
- He also wanted to kill his cousin
Source: www.stern.de
