Xabi Alonso praised Bayer Leverkusen's professionalism during the 5-1 defeat to Freiburg.
The reigning Bundesliga champions brought down the curtain on a memorable 2024 in dominant fashion at the BayArena.
Patrik Schick scored four times while Florian Wirtz was also on target as second-place Leverkusen closed the gap on leaders Bayern Munich to four points heading into the winter break.
Alonso secured his 50th win as Bundesliga coach after just 75 games, with only Pep Guardiola needing fewer such games to reach the half-century mark (61).
Nevertheless, the Leverkusen boss was convinced that the match was not as easy for his side as the result suggested.
50 – Xabi Alonso has won 50 of his 75 games as Bundesliga coach so far – only Pep Guardiola has previously achieved his 50th Bundesliga win as manager (after 61 games). Boss. #B04SCF pic.twitter.com/rZ4xJMJqD3
— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) December 21, 2024
“The result may have been spectacular and Patrik scored four goals, but the match was not as easy as it seemed,” he told reporters. “We had a good opponent and we had to prepare our actions intelligently.
“If a striker scores four goals, you can't complain. Patrik also does a lot of work on the ball and if he does that well, that's why he scores the goals. He helps the team and they create chances for him.”
“It was a very important win for us today. We wanted to continue our series and go into halftime with a good feeling. That worked. We will continue to attack in the new year.
“That gives everyone a good feeling. We have great ambitions to continue to fight for our goals in 2025 and we want to achieve a lot together.”
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