“We have something to lose, no doubt,” said Granit Xhaka, Bayer Leverkusen midfielder, who is already a German champion and will face Atalanta in the Europa League final in Dublin on Wednesday.
“We’ve reached the final to win it. Our main goal was to win the Bundesliga, but the second was this Europa League, and we’ll do everything we can to return to Germany with the trophy,” said the Swiss midfielder, who joined Leverkusen this season from Arsenal.
Bayer’s coach, Xabi Alonso, appeared very composed with the team in the press conference before the game, also focusing on the two remaining matches this season, rather than the 51 previous ones where they remained undefeated.
“Our task is to win the next two games,” said the Spanish coach, making it clear that the 51-game unbeaten streak would count for little if Leverkusen failed to win the Europa League final on Wednesday or the German Cup final against Kaiserslautern on Saturday.
Xabi Alonso, who enjoyed the presence of many journalists, avoided revealing any hints about his starting eleven for Wednesday’s match against Atalanta and, in particular, whether Florian Wirtz, the 21-year-old who was voted Bundesliga’s best player, would start the match.
“Flo (Wirtz) will have an important role, as always. He’s a special player, very important and present in decisive moments. He could start, but we’ll see if he begins the game. The decision of who plays is mine,” explained the young coach, admitting only that Matej Kovar, the Czech goalkeeper, will be on the pitch at kickoff.