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With his Bayer Leverkusen side three games from a record-breaking unbeaten season, manager Xabi Alonso said yesterday he knows the team has a target on their heads.
“Everyone wants to beat us, of course. But we want to stay unbeaten. Every week it’s a bit more difficult but the goal is bigger,” Alonso said before Sunday’s trip to Eintracht Frankfurt.
Already crowned league champions for the first time, Leverkusen are three games from becoming the first team to go unbeaten in a Bundesliga season – a feat not even Bayern Munich have achieved.
On Thursday, Leverkusen won 2-0 at AS Roma in their Europa League semifinal first leg to have one foot in the final, extending their season-long unbeaten run in all competitions to 47 games.
Already in the German Cup final where they will face second division Kaiserslautern, Leverkusen could win a remarkable treble in Alonso’s first full season at the club.
The German champions will however have to beat Frankfurt without Alonso on the sideline, with the coach to watch from the stands due to a yellow card suspension.
“It’s a new situation but hopefully it won’t have any influence on the team.
“I’m not worried about it.”
Alonso said the ban may be an advantage from a tactical perspective.
“From the grandstand you can see better and I will be allowed to communicate with the bench.
“I can’t communicate with the team, but they’re intelligent enough to decide things on the pitch themselves.”
Star midfielder Florian Wirtz, who opened the scoring in Thursday’s win in Rome, turned 21 yesterday.
“We celebrated with him and he gave a bit of a speech. He’s got a big future in front of him.” – SuperSport.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter