Xabi Alonso: “There is a huge desire to play in the Bundesliga again”

Bayer Leverkusen’s Spanish coach, Xabi Alonso, has said ahead of his team’s opening game against Borussia Mönchengladbach that “there is enormous excitement about playing in the Bundesliga again.”

In the run-up to the match at Borussia Park, the Guipuzcoan has stressed that last season, in which his team won the first German league title in its history and was undefeated, “has already passed, it is a thing of the past” and that they “only” talk about “what happened against Stuttgart” in the Super Cup; as well as knowing that “every match will be very difficult and against Gladbach it will be the same.”

“It’s something very special to play in the Bundesliga opener. We’re really looking forward to it, we’re very motivated to approach the match in a positive way,” said the Tolosarra.

The Basque coach said he was “happy” with his squad and said that all his players “are ready except (Argentine Exequiel) Palacios”, who will be out.

“We have to win everything again, we want to earn our points, and to do that we need to put in good performances again. That’s all we have in mind and that’s our clear objective,” he said.

Asked about which goalkeeper he will start this season, after assigning Lukas Hradecky and Matej Kovar to different competitions last term, he indicated that they will not know until “tomorrow”, the day of the match: “I have already made my decision for tomorrow’s game. We will play the cup on Wednesday and then against Leipzig. It could be that that will also be changed again,” he added.

Alonso has also hinted at the possibility of his two forwards, Victor Boniface and Patrik Schick, playing together and that former Dortmund player Jonas Hofmann is “ready” after pre-season and could play against his former team.

Speaking about the opponent, the Bayer manager praised the fact that “Gladbach have made good signings, such as Kevin Stöger and Tim Kleindienst”, and that “they have made good preparations”.

“Gladbach has a great stadium, we can expect a great atmosphere with 5,000 fans behind us. So there are many reasons for a great game and a good performance, and that is exactly what we want to achieve,” he concluded.

Berlin / EFE