"Many unexpected things happen in football" - Xabi Alonso issues warning to Bayern
Xabi Alonso voiced some fighting words for his players ahead of Die Werkself’s Champions League last-16 second-leg tie with Bayern Munich.
The Bavarians hold a comfortable 3-0 lead coming into tomorrow night’s fixture, but Leverkusen’s head coach clings on to hope.
“The first step is to believe,” Alonso said, as he addressed the media in this morning's press conference.
“Us and the fans that come to the stadium. They need to believe from the first second we are able to do it.
“It is a game in a different dimension for us, it can go down in our individual history for a long time if we play with heart, passion, aggressiveness, intensity and with a cool head.
With Florian Wirtz ruled out of action for several weeks, Alonso feels his players can battle for their injured talisman.
“The game is big enough as it is but fighting for Flo [can also be a factor]. We have that togetherness, that solidarity and it can be an extra boost.
The Spaniard went on to talk about how the element of having nothing to lose from this position could boost their performance.
“A hundred percent of Bayern fans think they are through … I’m not sure many Bochum fans thought [they could comeback] when they went down 2-0 [vs Bayern on Saturday].
“Many unexpected things happen in football, and it could happen again tomorrow on our pitch … once the ball is rolling anything can happen,” Alonso concluded.
Bayer Leverkusen face Bayern Munich at 9pm CET onTuesday night at the BayArena as both teams go hunting a place in the last-eight.
