Xabi Alonso addresses media on eve of Roma rematch: “We know who we are up against.” | OneFootball

Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso addressed the media on the eve of the first leg of the Europa League semi’s with Roma.

The Spanish coach attended his pre-match presser shortly after landing in the Italian capital this afternoon.

“We know who we are playing against,” said Alonso. “Roma have great quality with a new coach, they have changed the style a bit but we are ready for an intense semi-final.”

“They have shown that they are very good in the previous rounds, they have a great level and have made a great journey in Europe this year,” he added.

“For us to be able to be here again is an important cornerstone, from the beginning of our Europa League campaign we wanted to draw lessons from last season, last year it was painful not to go to the final and we dragged this pain on ourselves to make a virtue of it.”

“Roma have changed a lot, they have changed their style of play, tomorrow we expect an intense match.”

“We understood that last year was a unique opportunity, the team’s development had been excellent. We were ready to beat Roma to go to the final. Hunger is what we have, we can only draw positive lessons from last year, but tomorrow’s mentality and approach must not change, we will try to repeat ourselves and see how it goes.”

“Roma have also changed a lot, they will be prepared to understand how we play. It’s a European competition, being focused and paying attention to details, not getting red cards… it’s a huge challenge tomorrow, but it has nothing to do with last year.”