Alonso: Take energy and fight to Frankfurt

Alonso described Eintracht as “a strong team” on Friday. “They won the Europa League last season and look very solid. We need a lot of energy and have to be ready to fight. It’ll be an important game.”

Suspended duo return

Alonso has no new injury concerns following the Porto game on Wednesday and also has two more players available to him after Robert Andrich and Jeremie Frimpong sat out the Champions League game due to suspension.

The returning duo and the rest of the team can expect a different sort of match in Frankfurt compared to the 3-0 loss to Porto, who were “tight and deep in defence. We did a lot of things well but also made mistakes in our game. Those are immediately punished at the highest level. We have to be more compact against Frankfurt and be better at finding the space up front,” explained the coach, whose team will be supported by over 1,800 travelling fans at Deutsche Bank Park.

Alonso: “Everyone is important for us”

In order to make it consecutive Bundesliga wins in the Eintracht game, the Werkself will also “have to stay together as a team in tough moments,” stressed Alonso, who has been in the job just over a week. The Spaniard added of his time in the post at Bayer 04: “We’ve spent the first week together working on getting to know each other. Now we’re working on finding our identity and building up team spirit.”

Leverkusen face eight matches in the next four weeks. It will therefore be important to have the whole squad together. “Every player is important for us and will get their chance to prove themselves,” Alonso said looking ahead at the intense schedule up to the break for the World Cup.