Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen and giants Bayern Munich are set to clash in the Bundesliga on Saturday and Xabi Alonso has admitted his side will need to be perfect to stand a chance.
Alonso’s Leverkusen became the first team to finish with an unbeaten Bundesliga season, as they ended Bayern’s run of 11 straight league titles but it seems their rivals are looking desperate to reclaim their throne under Vincent Kompany.
Bayern currently top the league with 12 points as they have won all four of their games, three adrift of Leverkusen who are in second.
“The anticipation is great and we want to show a good game. We need a perfect performance to take something home with us,” Alonso said to the media.
“FC Bayern have made a good start to the season, it will be a challenge tomorrow.
“We need to play at our highest level, with and against the ball for 90 minutes. Bayern will go full throttle, we have to be ready for that.”
Leverkusen have been rather open defensively this term, letting in nine goals in four league games, and they conceded three in the entertaining 4-3 win over VfL Wolfsburg last time out.
After the match Alonso was livid with the poor defending shown by his side’s and ahead of their game against Bayern, the Spaniard once again highlighted the need for defensive solidity.
“The team has to be compact, we have to defend together as a team. We have a clear game plan, we can’t be too soft and we can’t allow large gaps.
“We have a clear game plan as to how we want to play. We will give everything… If we don’t defend well, it’s hard for the players to win. We want to be consistent. We don’t want to be up and down,” Alonso added.
Following their league game against Bayern, Leverkusen’s next tie is a home game against Italian side AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday.
