Xabi Alonso: “Today was bad”

Xabi Alonso reflects on an awful day for Bayer Leverkusen as their defeat was followed by injury concerns to key players.

“Today was bad. We didn’t play a good game. The result is not good. And, now, the situation with some players.” said Xabi Alonso after Bayer Leverkusen’s home defeat to Werder Bremen. The Werkself now lost back-to-back games without scoring a goal.

“I have to say that nothing worked today. I’m responsible for that and not making those decisions in the future again,” remarked the Spaniard before defending his decision to rest key players. “It was between two big Champions League games. We needed to rotate. We have to use everyone, but today wasn’t good.

“Two defeats in a row isn’t something we’re used to. We’ll forget about this game as soon as possible. And we’ll now try to believe in what can happen on Tuesday”

Alonso also talks about those who’ll fight with time to play Tuesday’s return leg against Bayern. “We’ll need to wait. Of course, a little more with Flo (Wirtz). He’s currently undergoing a scan on his ankle”. Alonso also relates the incident to João Palhinha’s red card.

“That’s possibly a red card (for Mitchell Weiser). I saw Palhinha’s incident today, which was almost the same picture. But that shouldn’t be an excuse. Could it be red? Yes. But, no excuse from me.”

Alonso also said Granit Xhaka and Edmond Tapsoba were substituted after they felt uncomfortable during the game. He said that they’ll have to wait to know whether it has to do with injuries or knocks.