Everyone enjoys blaming, right? Blaming Xabi Alonso for Leverkusen's loss? Its stupid. He led a young team to the final. Very big. Did they choke? Maybe. Even world-class coaches have been there. Fergie lost to Mourinho? When Pep couldnt beat Tuchel? It happens.
Xabi kept Leverkusen playing their game, which brought them this far. Changing everything for final? Risky business. Despite his flaws, lets give him credit. Atalanta played well. Under pressed, they maintained calm. They deserved victory. Young Leverkusen has a lot of talent. Perhaps they need some seasoned veterans to guide them. Still, thats how you learn, right? You lose, learn, and recover. Winners do that.
The high expectation on Leverkusen made people putting blame on Alonso for the loss. I think it's an expression of disappointment that makes people find anyone to put the blame on. I think it's indeed unfair to blame Alonso when he was under his own pressure to stay in unbeaten record that forces himself pushing the limit on his team which cause mentally fatigue in the Europa League final.
Xabi Alonso has done a remarkable job to bring Leverkusen that far. They also played an attractive football which entertained the fans. Atalanta was also not a weak team, in fact their performance in the last several games showed that didn't have a big quality gap between them and Leverkusen. Gasperini has also coached Atalanta a quite longer than Alonso coached Leverkusen, therefore he knows more about the competitiveness between teams in european stage.