Topic: UEFA Europa League 2023/24 Season - page 9. (Read 49767 times)

Xabi Alonso plan was winning the treble but he fall out along the line. It was one of the tremendous season fro Leverkusen, having to lose just a game in the whole of 2023/2024 season and it was against the Atalanta in the Europa League. Atalanta was not in a rush, they calmly played Bayer Leverkusen and absorbed all pressure that was flowing in. Bayern Leverkusen will play the UEFA Champions League next season, I'm definitely sure they will manage to reach the very top.

They must have come up with something new for the upcoming season from leverkusen in order to push it play in the UCL. I meant Bayern must be able to devise an alternate strategy when facing a defensive man-to-man marking opponent such as Atalanta and this is also making leverkusen feel so difficult to attack, xabi could have learned it. I rarely seen a Bundesliga club use this type of tactic but it's very often being used in the serie a. This makes it extremely difficult for Xabi to conceive of a solution in order to pass the marking by atalanta caused by there was no good level of player in the club who can leave from being marked.
The biggest difficulty is that Leverkusen's players are having average level. There is no one who could perform what Madrid did since there is no extraordinary player capable of running so quickly in the leverkusen. Gesperini has demonstrated that his experience is invaluable to his club's pursuit of its first trophy in many years and he has showed it in the match against leverkusen. Even xabi can do nothing in this game

Leverkusen never expected Atalanta to adopt a man-on-man marking tactic and it was very effective in order to prevent leverkusen from scoring. It makes it appear more difficult for Leverkusen to rise from the ashes. This has become Leverkusen's biggest vulnerability.
I believe Xabi needs to investigate a fresh strategy here in order to help it play in the UCL next season. He may not be able to utilize him at any moment, but Xabi has just won the DFB Pokal with Leverkusen. This season, we have two trophies. It was so amazing to see how leverkusen made huge progress in only two seasons under xabi.

Not awful at all.

There's every possiblity that Bayer Leverkusen will still remain formidable in every competition they'll participate in come next season but the truth is that Al the teams that'll play against them next season are definitely going to be very careful with how they expose their defense to Bayer Leverkusen. It's one thing to have a very good season but a much bigger work to repeat that same impressive performance in the following season and I think it'll be very difficult for Xabi Alonso's men to maintain their records of this season.
Bayer Leverkusen were the favorites to win the UEFA Europa League trophy this season after they reached the first of the competition but surprisingly, Atalanta convincingly defeated them in the final so expect other teams that'll face Bayer Leverkusen next season to have that strong believe that Bayer Leverkusen is very beatable

Ademola Lookman's remarkable hat-trick in the final match against Leverkusen showed his exceptional talent and impact on Atalanta's success. Despite facing criticism during his time in the Premier League, Lookman has flourished in Serie A, proving his capabilities and making significant contributions to his team. His three stunning goals in the final were a testament to his skill and ability to create scoring opportunities out of seemingly difficult situations. Lookman's performance not only secured victory for Atalanta but also positioned him as a standout player attracting attention from top clubs like Barcelona.
 
 The significance of Lookman's hat-trick goes beyond his individual achievement to mark a milestone in modern football. With the last hat-trick in a UEFA Cup occurring in 1975, Lookman's feat proves the difficulty of achieving such a feat in European competitions. His accomplishment after nearly five decades adds historical weight to his achievement, giving the challenges and exceptional skill required to score a hat-trick at this level of competition. Lookman's achievement is a reminder of the unpredictability of football, where moments of brilliance can emerge even after long periods of low performances.

 As Lookman's star continues to rise, both Atalanta and potential suitors like Barcelona are closely monitoring his performance and future prospects. While his loan status with Leicester City adds a layer of complexity, Atalanta may be eager to fully gain his services permanently given his significant contributions and growing impact on the team. Lookman's journey from being labeled as a "failed player" to becoming a hero for Atalanta reflects the resilience and determination in football, where players have the opportunity to rewrite their narratives and leave an indelible mark on the sport.

Nothing last forever as they say, so the loss to Atalanta was inevitable at that time because their winning streak will be coming to an end that day. Bayern Leverkusen have shown an unprecedented performance in this season in all competitions they’ve participated in. That I will say is enough to applaud them for that exceptional performance in this season. Atalanta had their chances and they were able to utilize it and won the Europa league even after losing the Copa Italia earlier before the Europa League final. All hopes on Bayern Leverkusen next season as they move into the next season in great style, let’s see if they can keep up with this great performance they’re showing now, and not be a one season wonder form. No team will take them with joke when they meet from next season, they’ll be super prepared for them in order to not be defeated by them as they meet from next season.

Alas, our Leverkusen boys entered that pitch thinking they had won. Soccer experts believe Atalanta is tough to beat. You'd think tactical genius Xabi Alonso would have prepared his team for their famed high-pressure, man-on-man defensive. We all make errors, right? Even our best. Its a sad loss, but it could be beneficial. This may wake up Xabi and his colleagues. They must realize that every squad deserves respect and that underestimating your opponent is disastrous.

Im not advocating quitting. Absolutely not. Im confident Xabi will learn from this and get stronger. His smarts will allow him to make the necessary changes. Who knows, he may change the formation or rotate the squad. He wont repeat his mistake.

It's true that these results teach us a lot not to underestimate the average club because in fact the UEL is different from the UCL in that in this tournament the average club can win the final and we also can't predict it, but for the UCL only the best clubs can win the title and they have to going through difficult matches against top clubs, but for UEL, the underdog club still has a chance to win the title like what Atalanta achieved this season, no one expected it from the start.

Atalanta has represented the Italian club to win the title in international tournaments when other clubs were unable to do so, not even Inter and this is an extraordinary achievement achieved by Atalanta and it has recorded history that they have never achieved so far while at the same time it will further improve his confidence next season to compete in the UCL.

Well I could say you are the only one on this taught because Bayern Leverkusen were more than enough prepared statistically to win that game looking at all the wonderful display of team work and team they have shown through out their 2023/24 season campaign but as faith may have it their unbeaten run had to be put to a stop at the most crucial time they even needed the win more which was so bad to see Because I for one really expected and even played that game with some cash in favor Leverkusen but after many wins with them they finally disappointed me and lost the game to Atlanta who I could say have been very good themselves but the gap and form difference between the two teams was just too obvious but football and it's wonders strikes again.

I don't doubt Atalanta's back line because they are an Italian team which we know is always good in terms of defense, that's why I think Leverkusen couldn't take advantage of the gap to score a goal against Atalanta, but instead Atalanta was able to balance Leverkusen's game which ultimately made it difficult for Leverkusen players after Atalanta scored one goal, Leverkusen's confidence dropped and finally became out of control, Gasperini was quite clever and really mastered the way of play used by Xabi Alonso.

xabi alonso may have to learn a lot more in terms of tactics and strategy, of course Gasperini is not one of the coaches who might be able to read Leverkusen's style of play next season, Leverkusen and Atalanta seem to be playing in the same competition next season, namely the UCL, I think if they meet Again, of course Leverkusen will avenge yesterday's defeat because of course Xabi Alonso will make it even better, there will be no end to discussing the matches that have passed because we have to congratulate Atalanta for winning the UEL title this season and this team has to thank Lookman.

Since Atlanta beat Liverpool in the quarterfinals, my view on Atlanta has changed because I didn't think that Atlanta would be able to compete for the title this season, but seeing how structured the game was built by Atlanta I began to think if indeed Atlanta had great potential to reach the final and even win it,  So far, Atlanta has often been able to reach the final round even though they failed to win in the domestic championship, but still Atlanta's mentality of playing in the final was quite tested, especially at that time Atlanta had just faced failure in the Coppa Italia final, while Leverkusen actually they seemed to be depressed in the final even though they were able to dominate throughout the match.

Lookman became a player who destroyed Leverkusen treble winner dream this season, but behind lookman performance in the match, of course Gasperini had a very big hand with the scheme and also the game tactics applied by him in the match really made Leverkusen helpless, Gasperini who applied a game pattern that relied on high pressing and also long and fast passes was able to dampen the leverkusen game and even the 3-back scheme what has always been Gasperini mainstay is able to turn off the movement and sharpness of the Leverkusen players in the match.

Ademola Lookman's hat trick in the Europa League final has made many people think that he is the best player to target in the upcoming transfer market. I wouldn't say that because Ademola Lookman don't looks like a regular striker who has good goal productivity every season. Ademola Lookman has a lot of experience at several Premier League clubs, he also played in the Bundesliga with Leipzig for two seasons and only made 22 appearances.

The hype about Ademola Lookman is not commensurate with his quality, of course if you look at his goal statistics each season. However, one thing is that Ademola Lookman can still improve the quality of his game by training harder and reaching the peak of his career. He was good for Atalanta, but maybe not as good for other big teams.

Atalanta is not an average club, but Atalanta is a pretty good club, especially in terms of its revival this season and after Atalanta won the Europa League trophy this season. Atalanta also still has the opportunity to get into the top three positions in Serie A this season because its current position is not too far from third and fourth. And that proves that Atalanta is not an average club, but is indeed a good club this season so it is also natural that Atalanta won the Europa League trophy even though the conditions surprised many people.

Basically, Atalanta has always managed to compete at the top line of the Serie A standings for the last few seasons but unfortunately, Atalanta has always failed to maintain its consistency. But this season, in fact, Atalanta has really managed to stay on the top line of the Serie A standings and also, Atalanta success in winning the Europa League trophy this season is also proof that Gasperini is still doing a good job for Atalanta. Even though in the previous few seasons Gasperini had not succeeded in making Atalanta consistent, until Atalanta had become an unstable team and thus it was difficult for Atalanta to get trophies. So yes, in the end Gasperini succeeded in giving Atalanta a good achievement during Gasperini's career for Atalanta.

It must be admitted that Lookman was the one who scored 3 goals in Atalanta's win over Leverkusen in the Europa League final yesterday, but I see that Gasperini's strategic tactics are what enabled Atalanta to win the European Cup.
The reason is that Gasperini's tactical style, which uses high pressure man to man, made Xabi Aloso's tactics unsuccessful, and gave Lookman the role of being able to destroy Leverkusen's defense.
So Lookman was the star in yesterday's final match, but it must be admitted that all Atalanta players played as well as Lookman.

I don't think Leverkusen found Atalanta an easy opponent because if you look at the quarter-final match you will see that Atalanta defeated the hot favorites of the season Liverpool. If Atalanta had not been able to beat a team like Liverpool, Leverkusen might have found this team to be an easy opponent, but that was not the case. 

Basically in the final match Leverkusen's performance was random, they performed haphazardly from the start and it was because of their poor performance that they were defeated. They could not finish the final match the way Leverkusen had finished the previous matches and were defeated there. However, since the match was the final match of the Europa League tournament, Leverkusen should have made plans more difficult.

I hope xabi will be learning a lot from the result against leverkusen. it seems to me that if leverkusen was underestimating its opponent. It can be seen from how xabi alonso was not even putting important player in the club. He was doing some rotations which are also putting his club in very big disadvantages.
Xabi was never facing a club that was playing high press man on man marking like atalanta. No doubt that if xabi has no solution for this. He tried so hard but we must admit that if gesperini used his experience against xabi alonso.

In fact, some people were also surprised when Atalanta beat Liverpool in the Europa League this season before Atalanta headed to the final match to face Bayer Leverkusen. I was also surprised when I saw that Atalanta was able to overthrow the English team which is also doing quite well in its own domestic league this season. And this happened again to Bayer Leverkusen in the final match which in general was completely beyond many people's expectations because Leverkusen came to the final in a condition that had never lost this season. But Atalanta was able to change that at the end of the League by making Bayer Leverkusen lose in this quite important match.

The final match was a match for Lookman where he was able to become the best player in the Europa Final match. Indeed, he did not expect that Gian Piero Gasperini would make Lookman an important player in that match, because only Lookman was able to escape the tight guard of Bayer Leverkusen, so that's why Gian Piero Gasperini gave  encourage colleagues and other players to provide Lookman with the ball.

I expected Atalanta to beat Bayer Leverkusen. Yes, it was a shock, but Serie A fans know Atalanta under Gasperini is a threat. They've challenged top teams for years, above their weight. The score was surprising, but the win? Somewhat less. Certainly, Leverkusen has had a rough season. This loss? A wake-up. Even the best teams have off days. What, though? They have talent, coaches, and infrastructure to recover. Small blip on the radar. We don't just cheer when things go well. Standing by the team through tough times. Leverkusen needs our support in the DFB-Pokal final. Allow us to demonstrate that one loss doesn't define a season and our constant support.

It's very possible Leverkusen either ignored or weren't following up with the fact that Atlanta was having a growth curve that could be threatening if not payed attention to and then just this carefree part of their observation cost them the trophy they had fought all season for and now they are looking like they haven't been successful enough for a season as this which they were able to maintain a record that most team couldn't.

Atlanta had a progression in improvement that was least noticed by only a few which made most others somehow took them  for granted until they won the Europa title and now the attention is gradually gett to them int he Italian league as they have set a record for the Italian teams, I'm sure by next season except for the French league which we didn't get to experience much surprise, across every other league in Europe there's going to be a different kind of competition as most underdogs are stepping up beyond the average level in their various leagues which will make competing in other top leagues even more tough.

This was his Girona progressed in the bundesliga and only got noticed towards the end of the season so I believe next season Atlanta will become such a top team that they may be ranking amongst the top both in their domestic league and other leagues where they will be playing, it's been a fulfilling season for them as they have been able to achieve that which they have not been able to achieve in a long time in their football history.