Bayer Leverkusen Xabi Alonso Bundesliga Germany Spain Liverpool soccer Sport Bayer Leverkusen Xabi Alonso Bundesliga Germany Spain Liverpool

Xabi Alonso steps up to take Bayer Leverkusen post

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Former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder Xabi Alonso has been appointed head coach at Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen.The 40-year-old will launch his managerial career in earnest after being asked to take over from Gerardo Seoane, who departed in the wake of Tuesday night's 2-0 Champions League defeat in Porto with the club sitting one from bottom in the league table.Alonso, who won the Champions League with both Liverpool and Real Madrid and three league titles during his time at Bayern Munich, has signed a deal which runs until June 2024.The 114-times-capped Spain international, a World and European champion, told the club's official website: "I know Leverkusen from my time in Germany as an excellent club."Bayer 04 have always had great players and I see a lot of quality in the current squad too.

In my discussions with the club, it quickly became clear that, despite the currently difficult situation, ambitious goals are still being pursued in principle.

I am very excited about this task and I am sure that we will live up to this aim."Alonso, who retired as a player in 2017, has since cut his teeth in coaching with Real Madrid's youth team and Real Sociedad's B team.Bayer's sporting director Simon Rolfes said: "In Xabi Alonso, we have signed a coach who, as a player, was an absolute world-class professional for many years, an intelligent strategist and extremely successful in three of the most demanding European leagues."

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BERLIN: Xabi Alonso suffered his first Bundesliga defeat as Bayer Leverkusen coach on Saturday (Oct 15) as his side slumped to a 5-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt after a dramatic second-half collapse.
LEVERKUSEN, Germany: Porto's Galeno scored one goal and earned two penalties for Mehdi Taremi to convert as they cruised to a 3-0 victory at Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday (Oct 12), taking over second place in the Champions League Group B with two matches remaining.
Jose Mourinho believes that new Bayer Leverkusen boss Xabi Alonso will go on to do great things in management.

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