Europa League Final | Atalanta vs Leverkusen | Match thread

[Red&Black]

In the end, I think the match was decided by individual form and not tactical mistakes.

The match was decided by superior tactics from Gasp and an unrelenting press that Bayer had absolutely no clue how to deal with. They were suffocated. They met competition that played unlike anything they've seen this season... And that's not to say the quality was unlike anything, but the package.

You guys had an unreal season. Deserved champs. All that. But yesterday the team was taught a lesson by Atalanta, and I say that as someone who absolutely LOATHES gasperini... He danced on my team's head. Literally (there's a gif of it)

 

[Zehner]

The match was decided by superior tactics from Gasp and an unrelenting press that Bayer had absolutely no clue how to deal with. They were suffocated. They met competition that played unlike anything they've seen this season... And that's not to say the quality was unlike anything, but the package.

You guys had an unreal season. Deserved champs. All that. But yesterday the team was taught a lesson by Atalanta, and I say that as someone who absolutely LOATHES gasperini... He danced on my team's head. Literally (there's a gif of it)

Don't get me wrong, Atalanta was excellent tactically. They provoked the mistakes we made. But we didn't hit our normal form, we are usually much better in tight spaces. Especially Xhaka was a shadow of his usualy self this season and he would have been crucial to outplay their high line. The pressure of the occasion got to us and to be honest, it makes sense. We haven't had a game like this all season. The closest is Stuttgart in the cup but our matches against CL quality opponents in the league were all completely different constellations. We either had nothing to lose or we had already won the race when facing them. But as said, you can't be mad after this season. Nobody's perfect

 

[giorno]

Would be interesting to hear Xabi Alonso explain his thought process going into this game. It's baffling honestly because he took huge risks without any real discernible advantage? I mean, what does that lineup offer that one with Boniface and Andrich didn't? Palacios is great but he's not a particularly dynamic player, and Boniface may not be quite as speedy as Adli, but he's still very fast and mobile...

 

[Zehner]

Would be interesting to hear Xabi Alonso explain his thought process going into this game. It's baffling honestly because he took huge risks without any real discernible advantage? I mean, what does that lineup offer that one with Boniface and Andrich didn't? Palacios is great but he's not a particularly dynamic player, and Boniface may not be quite as speedy as Adli, but he's still very fast and mobile...

Palacios is simply a superior player to Andrich in almost every aspect of the game. He's more agile, he's more pressing resistant, he's a better progressive and final ball passer and counterintuitively, he's also better defensively. In fact, Palacios attempts and wins almost twice as many tackles per 90. Actually, he's superior in every defensive statistic (interceptions, blocks, etc.). He's been ahead of Andrich in the pecking order the entire season and rightly so.

Boniface hasn't been the same after his injury. He's not as agile and determined. Chipped in with a few goals but nothing more. People criticize Alonso for tinkering but the more I think about it, the more it seems as if the approach he tried against Atalanta is actually the one we've been playing all season. Lure the opponent into pressing us high up the pitch, then utilize our technical ability and passing game to free us from their pressure and play our quick attackers through. It could have worked if we didn't make so many individual mistakes. Honestly, Xhaka was barely recognizable this match.

 

[stefan92]

In the end you apparently just can't fully get "Vizekusen"/"Neverkusen" out of the club. Have to agree with @Zehner , it was a shockingly bad performance for Leverkusen's standard this season and the fact that it happened in a final just can't be much else than being nervous (for most players, Wirtz obviously also wasn't back to 100% fitness)

 

[sugar_kane]

I said at the time we played Atalanta under Ole we should go for their manager. They were class.

Not sure if that still holds true, but winning Europa and beating the seemingly unbeatable Leverkusen and the next big thing in Alonso hardly harms his case.

Sounds like he's off to Napoli anyway.

 

[horsechoker]

Will they fecking stop saying Atlanta.

It's ludacris!

 

[Zehner]

In the end you apparently just can't fully get "Vizekusen"/"Neverkusen" out of the club. Have to agree with @Zehner , it was a shockingly bad performance for Leverkusen's standard this season and the fact that it happened in a final just can't be much else than being nervous (for most players, Wirtz obviously also wasn't back to 100% fitness)

In hindsight, I think this kind of pressure was different to the situations the team has handled so well previously. We never really played such a good team in such a high pressure situation. The Bayern matches were very early in the calendar. If we lost them, there would still have been enough time to turn it around. Same goes for Leipzig. Stuttgart and Dortmund had the potential to be high pressure matches towards the end of the league but by the time we faced them, we had already won the league. The only comparable match to yesterday from a psychological perspective was the cup game against Stuttgart and that wasn't our best performance either.

It was inevitable that the vizekusen stuff would resurface when we eventually lose an important game but banter aside, there's not much into it, IMO. As good as this team is, for most players it is the first time that they compete for club titles and it is only natural that they aren't as battle proven as Real Madrid. They'll learn from it, I really liked Xhaka's reaction for example.

 

[sherrinford]

People thought it might be the Leverkusen team which could get cherry picked, however would certainly take Scalvini and Ederson from Atalanta.

Lookman is the one I would take from Atalanta really. Not just because of last night's performance, where he looked more classy than normal. I thought he would be a good alternative to Garnacho as an attacking player who provided dynamic movement and penetrative running, at a reasonable price as an under the radar option and someone who may well want to return to England and won't be extending his contract at Atalanta. Maybe not so now after that display.

Leverkusen have a few interesting players. In particular, I would be delighted with United trying to sign any/all of Tapsoba, Frimpong and Palacios.

 

[zlatan_ish]

My take on the game:

I think the overthinking stuff is blown a bit out of proportion. I would have preferred Boniface over Adli as well and think his presence upfront improved us but Alonso's plan made sense as well. As @giorno said, they pin you back but when you win a duel or free yourself from the stranglehold by other means, you immediately have the chance to score. Usually, we are very good at finding solutions in tight areas but yesterday, few players reached the level they displayed in the 51 previous games. Xhaka was inexplicably bad. Had a 2/10 performance when his worst all season was a 6/10. But also Palacios, Adli, Wirtz (in the first half), Frimpong, ...

In the end, I think the match was decided by individual form and not tactical mistakes. Many of our players seemed incredibly nervous while Atalanta was fully focused, Lookman especially. Tough luck but it doesn't spoil an incredible season for me Atalanta really deserved it and at least we lost to a very good team

In the end, I think the match was decided by individual form and not tactical mistakes.

Mistakes that were errors forced by opponent's tactics and gameplay. Leverkusen were rattled by Atalanta's play.
Give credit where it's due.