There is an inevitability to Bayer Leverkusen’s late shows. On a night of tension and occasional ill-temper at a bouncing BayArena, where patience was stretched by West Ham’s stifling tactics, the Bundesliga’s champions-elect stayed cool, used their bench and were rewarded for trusting in themselves by scoring twice in the dying stages.
Not for nothing is Xabi Alonso, whose next task is to clinch the first title in his club’s history on Sunday, regarded as management’s rising star. The statistics pointed to Leverkusen dominance, the shot count 33 to West Ham’s one, the possession embarrassing, but it still took persistence for Alonso’s side to take control of this Europa League quarter-final.
