Bayer Leverkusen missed the chance to go unbeaten for an entire season at one of their last hurdles – but Granit Xhaka insists he and his teammates don’t care.
Xabi Alonso‘s side have wowed football fans across the continent having emphatically ripped the Bundesliga trophy from Bayern Munich’s grasp as they romped home to the title.
But Leverkusen were played off the park in the Europa League final as they suffered a 3-0 hiding against Atalanta, with former Everton winger Ademola Lookman bagging a stunning hat-trick.
The defeat also means Leverkusen have missed the chance to become the first club in the history football to go an entire season without being beaten in all competitions.
That’s something Alonso’s men couldn’t care less about though, according to Xhaka.
“Honestly, we’re not interested in the unbeaten record,” he told RTL as quoted by The Independent. “We didn’t care about that from the start.
“It’s about the game and unfortunately we lost a final today. That’s football.
“We said yesterday that it would be a difficult game. Compliments to Atalanta.”
For the first time in the 2023/24 season, Leverkusen had no answers for their opponents, although the difference proved to come in the form of Lookman.
Lookman’s first saw him fire into the roof of the net from close range as he got on the end of a low cross from the right.
His second was spellbinding stuff with Lookman nutmegging former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka, before unleashing a delicious curling effort to the left of Leverkusen goalkeeper Matej Kovar.
And Lookman’s hat-trick was completed on 75 minutes with a vicious left-footed strike into the top corner to give Atalanta their first trophy since 1963.
Alonso’s men have the chance to secure a double on Saturday when Bayer Leverkusen face Bundesliga 2 side FC Kaiserslauten in the DFB-Pokal final.
