Alonso feels the pain of Europa League loss as Leverkusen now look to German Cup final

May 23: After 51 games without a loss, Bayer Leverkusen’s youthful coach,

Xabi Alonso had to swallow a bitter pill and lose for the first time in 361 days.

“You never forget these final losses,” Alonso remarked after Wednesday’s shocking 3-0 loss to Atalanta in the Europa League final.

the second-tier team, which is Leverkusen’s final game of the season.

We’re going to have a challenge, Alonso stated. Being the runner-up is an extremely tough situation to handle.

It won’t be an easy night tonight.

The former Liverpool lynchpin continued, “It has been quite exceptional what we have achieved.

” acknowledging that his squad had been outmuscled and outplayed.

Playing against Atalanta is quite taxing. We lost several one-on-one matches where we were the underdogs.

Ademola Lookman, a hat-trick hero and former Everton player who is Nigerian by birth and currently lives in London,

called Wednesday “one of the best nights of my life.”

Despite never having much success in English football, Lookman, 26,

has scored 15 goals in each of his last two seasons with Atalanta.

“I’ve always had faith in my abilities. I’ve been able to elevate my game

and demonstrate it more consistently over the last two years,” he remarked.

“It may have arrived sooner, but it has arrived now.

I want more evenings like these.

an incredible triumph after winning their first-ever trophy.

“We observed their matches, examined all of their strategies,

and the two games in the semifinal against Roma were very beneficial as well,” Gasperini remarked.

“We performed well in our match against them in the Europa League Round of 16.

Nobody ever thought he would advance to this degree. He didn’t produce a lot in England.

I moved him into a more offensive posture. He accomplished something tonight that will live on in the annals of football history.

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