Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso on Kaiserslautern: “They deserve to be in the final.”  | OneFootball

Ahead of Bayer Leverkusen’s DFB Pokal final against Kaiserslautern on Saturday, Xabi Alonso has given his thoughts on their opponents.

Alonso gives his thoughts on Saturday’s opponents: “They are dynamic and flexible with fast players. Kaiserslautern did very well in the last phase of the season. It doesn’t matter if they play in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd division. They deserve to be in the final.”  Kaiserslautern had struggled in the 2.Bundesliga all season and only secured safety with one game of the season left, but they come into this game with momentum having beaten Eintracht Braunschweig 5-0 on the final day.

On what it is like to compete against Friedhelm Funkel, Alonso said: “It is a great honour for me to compete against coaches with a great football history in Germany. I have the chance to learn from such great personalities as Friedhelm Funkel, Christian Streich or Frank Schmidt. I admire them.”

Finally, this is Leverkusen’s second final of the week after losing to Atalanta 3-0 on Wednesday in the Europa League final. On the defeat, Alonso said: “The pain of Wednesday is still very fresh. We have to use it to win tomorrow. Dublin is over and we are only thinking about the  DFB Pokal final.” Alonso then added his thoughts on a potential Pokal triumph: “It’s been a long road. We’ve been fighting to be here since August. It’s very nice to have a chance of winning the title in the cup final. We’re ready for tomorrow.”

Leverkusen’s run to the Pokal final has seen them beat Teutonia Ottensen, Sandhausen, Paderborn, VfB Stuttgart and Fortuna Düsseldorf. A win against Kaiserslautern will see them complete an unbeaten domestic season and end a 31 year wait for another Pokal win.

Earlier in his press conference, Alonso also confirmed that Lukas Hradecky will start in goal for Leverkusen in the final, instead of normal cup goalkeeper Matej Kovar.

GGFN | Jack Meenan