Stuttgart stalemate delivered ´most complete´ display, insists Alonso

Xabi Alonso believes Bayer Leverkusen delivered their most complete performance in the Bundesliga despite being held to a goalless draw against Stuttgart on Friday.

Leverkusen missed the chance to close the gap at the summit of the league table, despite dominating proceedings at the BayArena throughout.

The hosts twice struck the woodwork in either half through Edmond Tapsoba and Victor Boniface, while Florian Wirtz was denied by a wonderful stop from Alexander Nubel late on.

Leverkusen ended the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.19 compared to Stuttgart’s 0.28, further emphasising the superiority they had over their opponents.

The result saw Alonso’s side produce their second-highest underperformance in terms of their xG since the Spaniard took over the club in 2022, though the Leverkusen boss was happy with his side’s display.

“We are unhappy. We thought we had done enough to win it,” Alonso said. “We pressed well. Our players showed a lot of energy to press a lot.

“We created a lot of chances in the first half. But we also had chances in the second half.”

“Maybe the most complete performance from us even though we did not score. It was a top game.

“From Monday we focus on Liverpool. A big game, to play in Anfield,” said the former Liverpool player.

-2.2 – In the 0-0 draw against VfB Stuttgart, Bayer 04 Leverkusen underperformed their xG-value by 2.2 goals – only in the 0-0 draw against Monchengladbach in January this year Bayer04 underperformed their xG-value more in a league match under Xabi Alonso (-3.0). Unfortunate. pic.twitter.com/I3OWiw8Jl4

— OptaFranz (@OptaFranz) November 1, 2024

But Leverkusen’s struggles away from home continued. Alonso’s side have now just won one of their last five league games, drawing the other four.

They remained third in the Bundesliga table, but are now four points behind RB Leipzig and Bayern Munich, who now both have a game in hand.

“It is still early in the season,” Alonso said when asked about the growing gap with the league leaders. “There are enough games. We want to keep going.”