Xabi Alonso: The pain from last season is still great

Bayer Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso is still "feeling the pain" of last season's Europa League semi-final exit. "It still hurts after being so close last season. This is the perfect motivation for us. We want to make a good run in the Europa League again. Every one of our players is fully fit. We have worked really hard. I already have an idea for the match tomorrow , but we can also change something," said the Spanish specialist.

Bayer Leverkusen face Sweden's Hecken tomorrow in their first match of the group stage of the second most powerful European tournament. In the last campaign, Leverkusen were eliminated in the semi-finals after a 0:1 aggregate result against Roma. "We feel extremely positive. We may even improve. We will give everything we can in the upcoming matches in the Europa League," commented the "aspirins" defender Jonathan Tah to the media.