Granit Xhaka on Bayer Leverkusen’s defensive problems: “It’s about the final bite in our box…and at the moment too many people are going in there.”

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·28 October 2024

Granit Xhaka on Bayer Leverkusen’s defensive problems: “It’s about the final bite in our box…and at the moment too many people are going in there.”

Article image:Granit Xhaka on Bayer Leverkusen’s defensive problems: “It’s about the final bite in our box…and at the moment too many people are going in there.”

Bayer Leverkusen drew their second game in a row at the weekend as they let slip their lead twice to draw 2-2 with Werder Bremen, midfielder Granit Xhaka has not addressed the team’s issues.

At the Weserstadion on Saturday, Leverkusen twice took the lead, but their poor defending allowed Bremen to come back into the game and score a late winner from Romano Schmid. On the goals and how they could of been avoided, Xhaka said:

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“These goals are also a matter of communication. If we talk more on the pitch and help each other a little – left, right, front, back – then we are a little closer to our opponents,”

On Leverkusen’s defensive situation as a whole, which has yet to see them keep a clean sheet in the Bundesliga, the Swiss international said:

“If you concede two goals per game, then you won’t win games at this level. The way things are going at the moment, we don’t have to look up. Instead, we have to see how we manage not to concede goals. That was actually our strength last season. We can’t lie to ourselves, we have to be honest with ourselves.”

Head coach Xabi Alonso is also a fan of rotation, it was put to Xhaka if rotation was one of the issues behind Leverkusen’s poor defensive record this season:

“That can’t be an excuse. We have enough quality to rotate. It’s not about rotation, it’s about the final bite in our box. That’s our home, nobody is allowed in there. And at the moment too many people are going in there.”

Die Werkself need to find a solution to their defensive issues quickly as they face VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Friday, the only team in the Bundesliga in the past two years that has looked like they can comfortably beat Leverkusen, and their next Champions League tie is away at Anfield.

In the league, Leverkusen also find themselves five points off of Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig after they have drawn games against Holstein Kiel and now Bremen where they should have came away with the three points.

GGFN | Jack Meenan