After nearly eight months of coaching Leverkusen, Alonso managed to lift his team from the second-bottom position to 6th in the Bundesliga standings. He also managed to put his team in the semi-finals of the Europa League after impressing in the knockout stage.
Now he is in the spotlight because of his pretty good performance. Interestingly, in the semi-finals, Xabi will face his former boss, Jose Mourinho, who also managed to bring AS Roma to appear in the last four of the Europa League. The match between Roma and Bayern Leverkusen is a match that will get the attention of many people and also because of the meeting of Jose Mourinho and Xabi Alonso of course.
Leverkusen's success in reaching the Europa League semi-finals this season has come as a shock, but they really were in for it. Leverkusen have a lot of dangerous players who will threaten Roma's chances of making it to the final, so Mourinho will have to anticipate whatever mistakes his team make so they can win the match.
I'm sure Rome is better, but Leverkusen can't be underestimated. I remember Frankfurt (Germany) doing very well last season, so I think Leverkusen can do it too. The first leg is played at the Stadio Olimpico, so it should be an advantage that Roma can take advantage of. There is still plenty of time for preparation, both teams are focused on finding the best solution because it seems that both of them are very ambitious to qualify for the final and win the Europa League title this season.