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It's not all great footballers that ends up as great managers but Xabi Alonso has joined the league of former world class players who are doing exceptionally well in their managerial career and I'm sure that even Jose Mourinho who managed him as a player in his Real Madrid days and whose team is gonna face Alonso's Leverkusen is very happy for Alonso's little achievements so far as a manager.
One thing that is sure in that tie is that no matter the kind of mutual respect they share and desire to see each other succeed, those two managers are surely gonna do anything possible to make their respective teams progress to the final of the UEFA Europa League competition
There were many other great players who couldn't be great managers, Lampard in Chelsea is one example of these managers but Xabi Alonso proved he can also be a good manager and we see his team is performing well in both Bundesliga and Europa League, we still can't be sure if Leverkusen will achieve something in Eropa league or not but because of the performance of Leverkusen on Europa league I can be a high chance for them to win the title, they just need some more stability and luck.