Topic: UEFA Europa League 2023/24 Season - page 55. (Read 58961 times)

I think that was a good strategy from Gasperini, maybe Leverkusen was fooled when they saw Atalanta being defeated by Juventus who as we know they play inconsistently in the domestic league, since that defeat in the Coppa Italia final made Leverkusen feel confident to beat Atalanta in the UEL final yesterday, but instead they were surprised and Xabi Alonso didn't even expect that his players barely moved so their self-confidence dropped and in the end they conceded three goals without reply, it was quite a humiliating defeat, especially in the final match.

Even though yesterday's UEL final was Leverkusen's first defeat this season, of course it was a defeat that might be difficult for Leverkusen to forget, apart from that, Xabi Alonso might be able to avenge that defeat next season if there is a meeting with Atalanta in the UCL, it would certainly be an interesting meeting. between the two, I am sure that xabi alonso will improve what is lacking in the main squad because this defeat will make him stronger next season, Leverkusen will enter a higher level of course also Atalanta will play in the UCL next season, it is clear that both will be teams that can taken into account.

Many football analysts say that high press man-to-man marking is a tactic commonly used by most teams in Serie A and Gasperini applied it in the UEL final. Leverkusen played flexibly and placed many players in the opponent's defense line when in attacking positions. And the high press man-to-man marking tactic was very effective in reducing Leverkusen's playing style. Leverkusen players also only have average individual skills so by applying high pressure to each player they are unable to create many chances even though they have 70% possession of the ball. So the result of the match that night was not a coincidence, but it was a genius tactic implemented by Gasperini. Because of this, Atalanta and Gasperini deserve to be champions of the European League this season.

Do you think that Leverkusen's defeat was because they underestimated Atalanta? no friend, this is the final match and anything is possible in the final match. Moreover Leverkusen is not a team that has a strong mentality when playing in the Europa League final match which has a very high mentality so I am not that surprised by what happened and also in every season The Europa League always has big surprises, and again and again this season big surprises have happened and even in the final match.

The full trust of Atlanta so far in Gasperini certainly bears quite sweet results, Gasperini has been in Atlanta for almost about 7 years, even though Atlanta never won at all and even only managed to qualify for the Europa League but still Gasperini is still trusted by Atlanta management to become a coach, so it is time for Gasperini to repay Atlanta with his loyalty by staying in Atlanta after winning his first trophy this season, Gasperini, who managed to conquer a strong team like Liverpool and also break Leverkusen unbeaten record, of course, began to be the target of several teams to recruit him to be a coach.

Atlanta seems to understand that their chances of winning the trophy in Serie A are very difficult, so when they lose the opportunity to win the Coppa Italia trophy certainly makes Atlanta focus all their attention on the Europa League, the different performance between the league and also the Europa League is certainly not the most surprising thing for us especially at that time Atlanta had already claimed a place in the Champions League through a position in the standings if indeed they Failing to win the Europa League trophy, many of us here are indeed surprised by Atlanta ability to destroy Leverkusen who have been unbeaten and that is the beauty of football in my opinion.

Gasperini managed to make Atalanta win the Europa League after eliminating two strong clubs with a score of 3-0, Liverpool and Leverkusen became victims of the ferocity of Gasperini troops. Even though its performance in Serie A was not as consistent as Inter Milan and AC Milan, which managed to finish in first and second place, Atalanta was able to show great performance in the Europa League. Atalanta has the right to appear in the UEFA Super Cup after winning the Europa League trophy, they will be challenged by the team that won the Champions League.

Leverkusen should have been cautious in advance and should have taken Atalanta as a tough opponent and planned accordingly and then taken the field against this team. Where they beat one of the league favorites by a wide margin, they certainly have a good chance of progressing to the finals if they think about it and plan better against them, the match might not have turned out like this.

Leverkusen lost a big match and the margin of defeat there was huge. If Leverkusen had lost another match before the final, their performance might have been better, but they lost a match from which they had no chance of coming back. But every big team must learn from here because no team is small as an opponent, any team can advance against any team at any time.

Bad news to Manchester United fans for their team opportunity participants at UEFA Europe League next season.

Manchester United success getting UEFA Champion League ticket for next season after winning the FA Cup final match and make Chelsea who finish on Europe League spot have relegated for participating in UEFA Conference League next season. However, Manchester United has non-technical problems because one of Manchester United's shareholders, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has 23% stake in Ligue 1 team Nice, which has tickets to participate in the Europe League next season.

UEFA has strict rules regarding the prohibition of two clubs with the same ownership from participating in the UEFA Europe League and this provision means that Manchester United will have to play in the UEFA Conference League next season if Sir Jim Ratcliffe does not release his share ownership with Nice. It's a very difficult choice for Sir Jim Ratcliffe at the moment and he is looking for a solution so that both teams can participate in the UEFA Europe League next season.

The Italian League is not just any league because the competition in this league is also quite tight, even though Atalanta is not at the top of the rankings, the technique they play is almost equivalent to the performance of clubs at the top level in other leagues. Remember when Atalanta was able to beat Liverpool, who at that time were at the top 2nd place in the Premier League, no one expected Atalanta to be able to beat Liverpool with an amazing score, so it is not impossible that Atalanta could do the same thing against Leverkusen even though this club is in first place in the Bundesliga with 0 defeats because the Bundesliga is less competitive, unlike the Italian league where the club Italian clubs are a threat in international tournaments.

I was initially doubtful when Leverkusen and Atalanta met in the Europa League final because what I feared would really be the underdog club winning the title. But this is also a lesson for bettors who want to bet their money on the Europa League international tournament because most people's predictions from the start may still be wrong and elite clubs will not necessarily perform perfectly in the European League. But if it is in the Champions League tournament, I am sure that the club that has greater strength will win this prestigious title.

The key was located on the gasperini in the last game of europa league this season. His strategy was particularly efficient in avoiding leverkusen from building up the attack, it makes leverkusen players frustrated with it. This is also making it difficult for Leverkusen to even reach the penalty box and leverkusen tries to made some long shoots with the hope it can go straight to the goal keeper. Look at the statistics. It is apparent that Gasperini was the driving force behind Atlanta's victory.
The Italian club has more options for preventing the club from building up from the bottom. This is what Gasperini did in his last game. Xabi did not even have an alternative technique for this.

Leverkusen players are also finding it difficult to leave from Atalanta players, this is also helping atalanta to isolate the leverkusen in that game. This is what occurs when you have average players who aren't innovative enough to avoid getting marked by their opponents.
Leverkusen did not have somebody who could perform what Real Madrid did against Manchester City.

Yes, Leverkusen won the ball possession. If we learn their formation and the players chosen as starting lineup, it was clear they planned to dominate the ball possession since the early of the match. But Xabi Alonso forget that with no pure striker in the attacking line, it will be harder to score goals. Moreover, they were playing against Atalanta which has a strong defense. As the result, they scored 0 goal in the match. For me, it was a wrong tactic applied by Xabi Alonso. He was too focused on dominating the ball possession.

Here is one of the YT channels that also reviews of the lose of Leverkusen, they also stated that Xabi did a wrong lineup dan choose not proper tactics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sO8woR1NTA

It is strange if someone says it was a lucky. Atalanta players did their hard efforts to win the match. Scoring 3 goals is also a proof that they won the match with brilliant strategy. For me, it is about the strategy, Atalanta can apply a more effective strategy. Atalanta used a more offensive strategy and they play more aggressively. These are the reasons why Atalanta can win the match. All of them are reasonable efforts, there is no term of 'luck' on the result.  

Am I the only one who feels that but I'm sure before the match started, the Leverkusen squad was already on par with Atalanta, Atalanta is not the strongest team in the Italian league but they have a lot of secrets and indeed the team from the Italian league is not an easy team to beat, this Atalanta won should be a valuable lesson for Leverkusen, especially since they currently have strong competitiveness in every international league competition, next season Leverkusen will not play in the European League, they have already moved up to the Champions League but Atalanta still has the opportunity to play in the European League.

Gasperini decision to stay with Atalanta is very correct, because next season they will play in a more elite competition, namely the Champions League. We know that Napoli will miss out on various European competitions next season after finishing 10th in the standings, if Gasperini joins them, then he will have to fight back from the start. Napoli situation is certainly not ideal for offering a job to Gasperini who has just won the Europa League, and has great potential to bring Atalanta to finish in 3rd place in the Serie A standings this season. So Gasperini reason for staying with Atalanta makes perfect sense, and Napoli have now chosen Conte as their next manager.

Apart from that, of course Gasperini must add depth to his squad next season, because the intensity of competition in the Champions League is much heavier than the European League, at least Atalanta must have adequate rotation options. The bonus they get after winning the Europa League can be used to recruit one or two new players, of course while maintaining the existing squad. Apart from all that, Atalanta success this season will be remembered forever, because they managed to break Leverkusen unbeatable trend. Next we will see Atalanta in action in the UEFA Super Cup match, which pits the Europa League champions versus the Champions League winners.

Leverkusen dominated possession of the ball throughout the Europa League final, they also continued to try to build attacks even though they ultimately failed to score a single goal. Leverkusen's defense was really bad in that match, of course this was what Atalanta took advantage of to find a goal.

I wouldn't say that Atalanta's win in the final was lucky. Atalanta is really trying hard to create history in the Europa League and this title is their first title in elite competition. Atalanta have improved in recent seasons, but this season they managed to prove themselves and win the title. Of course it is worth giving high appreciation to Atalanta, but not to say Leverkusen was bad for their defeat.

Atalanta should never be underestimated. They won against Liverpool with the same score. It is not easy to beat them 3-0 in England. They eliminated them and then shattered Leverkusen, who had been unbeaten for more than 50 matches, in the final. Atalanta had a great tournament. We need to praise them and hope that they form a better squad next year. They will also face the Champions League champion in the Super Cup. It will be a great surprise if they win that too.

Alonso's tenure at Leverkusen has indeed been commendable, despite their disappointment in the Europa League final against Atalanta. His influence has put Leverkusen back on the right track, showcasing his skills at managing a team with promise and potential. By grooming a competitive spirit in the squad, Alonso has demonstrated his ability to guide a team towards success, even in the face of formidable opponents. His coaching style has also opened minds to alternative approaches, proving that young coaches can thrive in high-pressure environments.

 Looking ahead to the Champions League next season, Alonso faces the challenge of maintaining Leverkusen's performance and squad quality. With the increased level of competition in Europe's premier club tournament, Leverkusen must step up their game to compete against the continent's top teams. Alonso's tactical nature will be tested as he pulls through the toughness of the Champions League, where each match will be a definite challenge. Leverkusen's success in the tournament will depend on their ability to adapt and excel under Alonso's guidance.

 However, Alonso's task is made even tougher by the quest of bigger clubs for Leverkusen's key players. Retaining top talent will be crucial for Leverkusen's aspirations in the Champions League and maintaining their competitiveness domestically. The departure of key players could disrupt Leverkusen's progress and make it challenging for Alonso to replicate their successes from the previous season. As the Europa League has ended and attention turns towards the upcoming campaign, Leverkusen and Alonso must scale through the hurdles of squad management and competition to continue their upward stride in European football.

That's why it's not good to underestimate what has never happened. To be honest, I was very surprised by the Leverkusen last match with the way they pressured their opponents and how people were proud of them that Leverkusen is an unbeaten team this season, but a big disappointment from them. But Shal, they still have a record since they were able to keep the record this season since they started the season and nobody was able to defeat them until the season came to an end.

Morever, I have hope for them that next season they may do better and also break a record in the European League. Atlanta is looking like a team that will not move forward or perform well, but with the effort they put in, they make everything possible against any of their opponents and dominate the match.

Not a possibility because for next season Roma will still be in Serie A considering they currently finish in 6th place and with the list of Champions League titles that have new rules, Serie A is certain to send 5 candidates especially Atalanta has qualified automatically so for this case the club that is below 5th place then indeed they are the ones who qualify for the Europa League and Roma occupy that position.

For next season there are some clubs that are quite interesting where for the EPL we also have Manchester United although they are still a little difficult to predict but for the Europa League it looks like they can compete unlike in the Champions League which is at the bottom of the standings.
In addition, the dark horse La Liga brought in a new contestant where Bilbao, who has not participated in the highest competition for a long time, is currently a debutant club and it will be very interesting to see whether this season's outstanding performance will be the same as next season for Bilbao.

The stress will be too much for Atalanta, because they are going to face strong teams in UEFA champions league and UEFA Europa league team which it will going to reduce their strength not to be able to repeat what happened in this season.

Since it has be long they win the trophy, I don't think they will have such money to buy players because their coach will like to use those players to test his skills if they will still going to lift the UEFA Europa league trophy next season.

Even though they sell their players to buy new players against next season, it will be very hard for Atalanta to lift the trophy, because other teams will do what will make Atalanta not to take second position.

Actually, I saw that Gasperini already had a tactic to beat Leverkusen because I saw the same tactic used against Liverpool in the second leg. Gasperini knew that Leverkusen did not have very good individual quality, therefore he used high pressure man to man marking, making it very difficult for the Leverkusen players and unable to build the game. Despite having 67% possession of the ball, Leverkusen only had 3 additions to the target. Atalanta has a solid defense like other Italian teams. And the high-pressure man-to-man marking strategy is something that is often used against teams in Serie A.

However, this strategy has a clear weakness, namely if the opponent is a club with great individual quality then this strategy will only create lots of gaps in the space between the lines which will become empty because each player marks his opponent. I think if Madrid manages to win the UCL then the Real Madrid vs Atalanta match will be a very interesting match to watch.

I would also prefer to see Gasperini stay at Atalanta. But Atalanta's coach, Gasperini, seems to have been approached by the Napoli club. But the good news for Atalanta is that Gasperini seems to have chosen to remain loyal as Atalanta coach. With this, hopefully Atalanta can continue their good results into next season. Because next season Atalanta will fight in the Champions League. And it will be much more difficult than the European League. Gasperini has been with Atalanta for quite a long time. and in the end he won a trophy this season in the European League for the first time in his career with Atalanta. So Gasperini is expected by many people to bring more trophies to Atalanta in the next season.