At the end of a dream season, Bayer Leverkusen ran into a nightmare.
For 51 games they had been close to perfect. No matter the opponent, they had the answer. Even when they have not been at their best this season, there has always been a late goal or a hero who would emerge.
Not this time. Not in the 52nd game.
Atalanta’s 3-0 win in Dublin was certainly shocking. Leverkusen were expected just to collect the Europa League trophy on the way back to Germany, before heading on towards their unbeaten treble. That seemed like this team’s destiny. But football is rarely that simple and defeat for Leverkusen actually seemed oddly inevitable from very early on.
Credit Gian Piero Gasperini for that. He found answers no other coach has this season. Atalanta’s waspish press not only disrupted Leverkusen’s flow of possession forward, but also managed to neutralise Granit Xhaka’s influence at the base of midfield. Xabi Alonso’s players made mistakes, certainly, but their biggest problem was a lack of rhythm; they were never allowed to play.
“We didn’t find our way into our game,” said Jonathan Tah, their captain. “They were more aggressive in the duels, left us very little space and therefore deserved to win against us today.”
Atalanta celebrate winning their first European trophy (Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
It was a curt appraisal, but an accurate one. Leverkusen did lack aggression. At least, the only energy they showed came in moments of frustration, as their inability to control the ball or use it in any meaningful way started to create a clear tension. Florian Wirtz was prickly and agitated. Jeremie Frimpong, who is always so full of life, was lukewarm and marginalised from the game. Nothing was normal.
Given everything that has been achieved this season, it seems churlish to criticise Alonso for that or to judge his team selection harshly. After all, how often have Leverkusen won this season by being experimental? The team Alonso picked on Wednesday had been good enough to beat Roma in the Stadio Olimpico. But this time the balance seemed off and that is where the questions come from.
Edmond Tapsoba prefers to play on the left of a back three. The passing angles are better for him, he has said in the past, and he likes the freedom of being able to cut inside and see the whole of the pitch. Was moving him to accommodate Piero Hincapie worth the comfort that was lost?
Josip Stanisic has had a brilliant season in many ways and has played a vital role in relief. Had Frimpong played there instead, in his more orthodox right-wing back role, Ademola Lookman might have been asked to do more than bite in between the Leverkusen centre-backs and score one of the great hat-tricks in European finals history. Might that be one Alonso would like to have back?
A HAT-TRICK FOR LOOKMAN IN THE FINAL!
TAKE A BOW 👏
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— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 22, 2024
Truthfully, Lookman was so good in Dublin that it probably would not have mattered. There is another point, though: Atalanta played better because, on Wednesday night, they were better set up for this game by their coach. Gasperini is admired across Europe for good reason and this was the latest demonstration of why he is held in such high regard; his game plan was pitch-perfect. Atalanta were stunningly superior.
Leverkusen understood that and there were no sour grapes.
“It’s extremely tough to take but we have to be honest with ourselves,” midfielder Robert Andrich said.
“It was deserved today, so we have to go out with our heads held high and congratulate Atalanta. They definitely deserved it more than us today.”
People tend to get sick of good stories. They certainly tire of football teams that win a lot. So, there might even be a backlash — some delight at a bit of comeuppance for Alonso, of whom so many complimentary things have been said. That must be particularly tempting given the optics — Alonso, young, urbane and cool, tripped up by 66-year-old Gasperini in his dad denim and rumpled cagoule.
Gian Piero Gasperini won the first trophy of his managerial career on Wednesday (Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
But it seems hardly fair — especially as nobody from Leverkusen mistook Gasperini for anything other than a maestro. Alonso was incredibly respectful of Atalanta in the build-up, warning his side of the dangers they faced and speaking publicly about his admiration for his opposite number. In defeat he was graceful, praising how quickly Atalanta recovered numbers behind the ball and how little space and time they allowed his players.
“We will learn,” he promised. “We had a big chance and we put everything toward today, but it didn’t go as planned. We were not at our best level: everyone, myself included.”
Perhaps that is what makes Alonso so compelling. This has been a rare season, but it seems unlikely to be an outlier in his coaching career. Wednesday’s result prompts questions and it will demand evolution. Gasperini has now created a precedent that other coaches will surely follow. A swarming press aimed at the right players has been shown to stop Leverkusen and inside forwards of a certain type can cause them serious problems.
So, what does Alonso do next? What is his answer to having Xhaka swamped? How does he cope when the possession coming out of the defensive third does not suit the attacking players who need space to be dangerous? When a game is not going well and momentum is not on his side, as it never was in Dublin, what tools can he develop to change that?
In the modern era, that is the coaching challenge. Those who belong among the very best are able to constantly stay ahead in that race, always managing to reinvent quicker than they can be contained or copied.
There is no reason to believe Alonso will not one day belong in that group. Next year, he will still be in Leverkusen, with a group who are older and wiser, and supplemented by the added lustre of being a Champions League team and defending Bundesliga champions.
No, Wednesday night did not go well. In a way, given that it prevented a unique history from being written, it was devastating.
But perhaps it makes the future and what Alonso does next all the more intriguing.
(Top photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
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