Leverkusen is the most perfect team I have ever seen. One win in the UEL final and they will ensure themselves as the only team to be unbeaten in a season in all competitions on the UEFA calendar. It was a very prestigious achievement and could never be repeated even by Leverkusen itself.
Next season they will be one of the teams to watch out for. A defeat to Atalanta will expose their weaknesses and other teams will also try to copy the same tactics. Leverkusen needs to look for several new players to add strength to the team. I see that current players cannot play optimally as Xabi hopes. In fact I can say their current squad is not a great squad with great players. There are no famous players or young talents among them. However, the mentality and tactics used by Xabi succeeded in making them a very competitive team.
A competitive club is the pointed team that thrashed Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League final. Leverkusen first defeats was really dissapointing because none of them expected it to happen. Bayer Leverkusen will survive the fierce competition infront? They've created one of the longest unbeaten run and I don't think it's going to an easy one for them next season. They will feature in the UEFA Champions League and we know all elite teams will focused on the club, this is really one of the top challenge they should throw more pointed actions on.
I believe that Bayer Leverkusen will have learnt their lesson from the game against Atalanta. They didn't expect this efficiency level from Atalanta while at the same time they couldn't put the ball in the back of the net themselves. Being down 2 goals after 26 minutes was new for them and I believe they felt nervous more than they did ever before in the season.
And Atalanta is a team that loves to have that early lead and then go for counter attacks. Leverkusen new they had to lead the game and Atalanta was fine to focus on the defense and wait for their final shot.
Next year I think we will still see a very strong Leverkusen team. They have achieved so much that there is no reason to be sad. They will be sad as for some players this means a once in a lifetime chance to play such a final. But overall they have delivered a once in a lifetime performance. Despite being convinced that they will play a great season again and that they are clearly a top 3 candidate, it is hard to believe that they could make it to 90 points again.
Bayern Munich will be furious next season. They will all be on fire. And the biggest risk for Leverkusen is to lose some of the key players. Wirtz said something about it and some others may leave the club, too. It's the perfect timing for them to make a lot of money after playing a perfect season. Real Madrid is after Wirtz as it seems and if you a young guy who has the chance to play with players like Bellingham and Vinicius Junior and perhaps Mbappe, I think it is very tough to decline the offer.