´We were just not good enough´, says frustrated Leverkusen boss Alonso

Xabi Alonso offered a blunt assessment of Bayer Leverkusen’s performance after the Bundesliga champions were held to a 1-1 draw by Bochum.

Koji Miyoshi produced an 89th-minute leveller to snatch struggling Bochum a point on Saturday.

Patrik Schick had put Leverkusen, who were hammered 4-0 by Liverpool in the Champions League in midweek, ahead in the 18th minute.

Leverkusen only had 11 shots to Bochum’s 15, though Alonso’s team did finish with a higher expected goals total (1.24 to 0.7).

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But Alonso was left frustrated by sloppiness in both boxes from his team, and he compared the result to a 2-2 draw against Holstein Kiel, in which they squandered a lead, in October.

“It is the same feeling as against Kiel,” Alonso told reporters, with Leverkusen having now drawn five of their last six Bundesliga outings.

“We again could not finish the game with a win and conceded before the end an equaliser. We have to do that better. We have to keep working on that and learn to handle it and secure the three points.

“Bochum were disciplined at the back and we did not do well in the last third of the pitch. We just were not good enough.”

Leverkusen will aim to get back on track when they face Heidenheim at home after the international break.