The new champion of
On Saturday, Leverkusen will be heavily favored to win the German cup final against a Kaiserslautern team that finished 13th in the second division, not so far from falling into relegation playoffs.
And so the biggest remaining challenge for coach Xabi Alonso’s team is game No. 52 of 53, in
It feels fitting because the
Three times in six games in the knockout rounds the team was 2-0 down deep into the second half and still behind entering stoppage time: In both round of 16 games against Qarabag and in the semifinals return leg against
“Our self-confidence keeps driving us on,” Alonso said Tuesday. “I think that belief is crucial to our mindset.”
In another streak-saving Europa game, at West Ham in the quarterfinals, Leverkusen was set to advance on aggregate score yet needed an 89th-minute goal by wing-back
“We don’t want to wait until the last seconds of the game,” said
Atalanta defender Berat Djimsiti acknowledged Tuesday it was “certainly added motivation” trying to be the team to beat Leverkusen. “They have achieved some extraordinary things this season.”
There have been other stellar teams in European soccer who added the elite
Still,
This is Alonso’s first full season coaching at the top level. His team was in relegation trouble last season. There was no superstar transfer signing in the offseason.
“Really enjoying it,” the 42-year-old Alonso said. “The energy in the locker room is really good and the mentality we have shown through all the year has been fantastic.”
Alonso twice won the
Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta were nowhere close to being invited to the breakaway three years ago and today represent soccer projects that won respect from neutral fans across
Both are based in provincial cities, each with more than 100 years of history, reaching surprise peaks. Before this season, they had only ever won three trophies: Atalanta’s Italian cup in 1963 and Leverkusen’s 1988 UEFA Cup — the forerunner of the
While Leverkusen once lost a
Their modest stadiums in Leverkusen and
Leverkusen and Atalanta do not figure in
Two well-run clubs, relying on smart transfer dealings — albeit underwritten, respectively, by pharmaceutical giant Bayer and
Yet both Leverkusen and Atalanta, under coach
“They play one against one on the whole pitch,” Schick said of Atalanta. “Wherever you move, you have one defender behind you so they don’t leave you the space to breathe.”
Atalanta has been a refreshing force under Gasperini and already has a place in the
What Leverkusen has done is not normal, though, and a legend could be just days from being created.
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