German media have now been reacting to Bayer Leverkusen and Granit Xhaka’s defeat in last night’s Europa League final to Atalanta.
Remarkably, the loss was Granit Xhaka’s first since leaving Arsenal, having now played 49 games for his new club.
In truth, Xabi Alonso’s side deserved to lose, and were surprisingly overcome in quite simple fashion, not able to cope with Atalanta’s coordinated pressing.
Xhaka’s and Leverkusen’s season doesn’t quite finish there – they’ve got the DFB Pokal final to come on Saturday, and it will perhaps be a slight worry how tired the team understandably looked.
That being said, there are still a few of an Arsenal persuasion who can’t get their head around the club’s decision to let Xhaka leave.
The Swiss international perhaps could have dovetailed brilliantly with Declan Rice in midfield – something fans will now never know.
But with plenty of Arsenal fans tuning in to watch Xhaka’s performance last night, they’ll be interested to know how the German media reacted to his display, which was fairly underwhelming.
Granit Xhaka’s Europa League final appearance labelled ‘sloppy and careless’ by local media
Local source Rheinische Post provided an individual breakdown of each Leverkusen performance of the night.
The outlet rated Granit Xhaka among Leverkusen’s worst performers, even if he has otherwise enjoyed a remarkable season.
They commented: “Bayer’s maestro seemed out of sorts in the first 45 minutes and lost the ball several times.
“Before the 0-2, his tackling of the goalscorer Ademola Lookman was sloppy and careless.
“The second half was only slightly better. Now the summer signing knows what it feels like to lose a game with the Werkself.”
Did Arsenal-linked Jeremie Frimpong fare any better?
Arsenal fans may also be interested to hear that full-back Jeremie Frimpong, who has been linked with a summer move to north London, was similarly unimpressive.
Rheinische Post claimed that Frimpong ‘couldn’t cope’ with Atalanta’s physical style, a display which won’t have impressed scouts looking on.
It’s no secret that Arsenal are interested in bringing in a full-back this summer, but it would seem difficult to recruit either Alejandro Grimaldo or the Dutchman mentioned.
The pair play so high up the pitch, Frimpong almost being akin to a centre-forward at times.
And it would be a huge change to swap that role for a more disciplined one under Mikel Arteta’s stewardship.
All that being said, one Arsenal target on Atalanta’s side of the pitch did seriously impress in his minutes.