Speaking at his press conference ahead of Bayer Leverkusen’s Europa League semi-final second leg against AS Roma, Xabi Alonso was asked about the strength of the Bundesliga.
Last night, Borussia Dortmund secured their place in the Champions League final after beating PSG 2-0 on aggregate. On how Dortmund’s result affects the Bundesliga, Alonso said: “This is very positive for the Bundesliga.” Alonso then added: “This high level of the Bundesliga means that it is not easy what we have achieved. We were very constant this season.”
In recent seasons, the strength of the Bundesliga has also been questioned but with three teams still left in European competition compared to the Premier League’s one (Aston Villa in the Conference League) Alonso was asked if the first division in Germany was stronger than its English counterpart: “You can say everything, but the results are results, these are facts, you can’t discuss them.”
This season the Premier League and Bundesliga have matched up several times in European competition with the Premier League only coming out on top twice when Manchester City played RB Leipzig in the group stages of the Champions League and West Ham beat Freiburg in the Europa League.
The rest of the time has seen Bayern Munich beat Manchester United in the group stages and then Arsenal in the quarter-finals. Dortmund beat Newcastle twice in the group stages whilst West Ham succumbed to Leverkusen in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
It really goes to show that you do not have to sell your soul to a nation-state or some oil merchant for success in Europe.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
