FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Bundesliga - TSG 1899 Hoffenheim v Bayer Leverkusen - PreZero Arena, Hoffenheim, Germany - September 14, 2024 Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso before the match REUTERS/Heiko Becker/File Photo
(Reuters) - Bayer Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso was happy with the German champions' 4-0 win at Feyenoord in their Champions League campaign opener on Thursday, but said the victory did not come as easily as it looked.
Former Spain midfielder Alonso, who won the European top-flight title twice as a player with Liverpool and Real Madrid, said his players needed some time to get out of the early pressure from the hosts in his first Champions League match as a manager.
"We were not lucky, but efficient, in the first minutes... we needed a bit more control on the build-up to find the free spaces," the 42-year-old said.
Alonso said it was never easy in the Champions League, with Leverkusen putting on a disciplined performance in the goalless second half.
"We have good players who understand what the game requires. They are flexible," he said.
"We need to have those registers... be flexible during the game."
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
