Champions Bayer Leverkusen have finally lost a Bundesliga match again but coach Xabi Alonso believes they will rebound strongly . Leverkusen , Germany ( dpa ) – Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso ‘ s main concern in the wake of their first Bundesliga defeat after 462 days , 15 months and 35 matches is that they don ‘ t have the chance to press the reset button immediately . Saturday ‘ s 3 – 2 home defeat against RB Leipzig is followed by the first international break of the season , and Alonso will not have everyone back until shortly before the next match at Hoffenheim on September 14 . ” Unfortunately there is this international break and I won ‘ t have the players in the dressing room tomorrow ,” Alonso said post – match . The break is at least shorter than after their previous league loss , 3 – 0 at Bochum on May 27 , 2023 in that season ‘ s finale . Last season ‘ s run Alonso got the team back on track in the pre – season back then , as they famously went on to claim a maiden Bundesliga title last term
as the first team to go unbeaten over a full league season . They lost only once overall from their 53 matches in the 2023 – 24 campaign , the Europa League final against Atalanta in their penultimate game , with the 51 games without defeat in a season a European record . The streak partly stayed alive thanks to a series of miraculous last – gasp goals , and Alonso had already warned in the latest pre – season that there was no guarantee of a similar campaign . Defeat a reflection of season start They have been a little shaky since the start of the season , winning the German Super Cup against VfB Stuttgart on penalties after scoring a late equalizer , labouring to a 1 – 0 German Cup win at fourth tier Carl – Zeiss Jena , and squandering a two – goal lead against Borussia M ö nchengladbach in their Bundesliga opener before winning 3 – 2 in stoppage time . Leverkusen were two goals up again on Saturday from Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo . But their former player Kevin Kampl struck just before half –
time , and a second – half brace from Lois Openda sealed the fate of the hosts who finally managed no comeback against clinical Leipzig who made a big statement with the win . ” It was a long streak but now it is over , there is no more record ,” Alonso said . Mistakes lead to defeat The full assessment has to wait until after the international break why Leverkusen lost a match they controlled for large parts with 26 – 8 shots on goal , 18 – 2 corners , and 62 % possession . ” Of course , it hurts . We lost in the end because Leipzig made better use of their chances than we did . We have to score goals and we ‘ ll work on that ,” Frimpong said . Alonso said that ” we made big mistakes after 2 – 0 and we must learn from these mistakes .” Captain Jonathan Tah struck a similar note , saying : ” We dozed off in one or two actions – then that happens .” No doom and gloom But there was not too much gloom , given the team ‘ s start into the match which their managing director Simon Rolfes named the best first half o
f the season . ” We must defend with more determination and improve stability in all areas ,” Rolfes said . Alonso agreed that not everything was bad , and added confidently : ” I have no reason to believe that we won ‘ t come back .” dpa ri bag
Source: The Namibia News Agency