The Spanish Xabi Alonso and the Italian Daniel De Rossibefore becoming the coach of Bayer Leverkusen and of Romerespectively, they met on 6 occasions as professional players, a battle between national teams and clubs that was clearly won by Tolosarra, winner on 4 occasions.
This Thursday, in the first leg of the Europa League semifinals, this will be the first time they will face each other as coaches. The stage will be Rome Olympic Stadium where the Leverkusen lost its last match in Europe, in a rivalry with a huge emotional charge when faced Xabi Alonso against one of his teachers, the Portuguese José Mourinhowho was fired Rome In January.
Now it is the two coaches, who as players are references for their respective countries, who will lead the benches of the two teams that want the European final. Alonso He comes with the baggage of being champions of a historic Bundesliga, going undefeated in the season and with a desire for revenge after last season’s semifinals.
Furthermore, the statistics against Rossi During his time as a player he smiled at her. He lost just once against a former player who has now regained the best version of the ‘Wolf’, who he wants to return to the Champions League and the Europa League final after last season’s defeat against Sevilla, which would have meant a third. consecutive European finals for the Romans.
What are those 6 conflicts? And which one did Xabi Alonso win?
1 – The first confrontation between the two began on March 26, 2008, 16 years ago. It was a friendly between Spain and world champion Italy before Euro 2008 that ‘La Roja’ emerged victorious.
A goal from David Villa gave the Spaniard victory, in a match in which De Rossi, number 10, played full time and in which Xabi Alonso was a substitute.
Soon, in the Euro Cup, Italy and Spain met in the quarterfinals, but Xabi Alonso did not play a single minute.
2- The second match was also a friendly between the teams. On 10 August 2011, in what was De Rossi’s only victory, although Alonso scored a goal for Spain from the penalty spot.
3- On June 10, 2012, the first official rivalry between the two took place, at the 2012 Euro Cup, in the group stage. The match ended tied at 1.
4- A few weeks later, they met again in the Euro final. A 4-0 crowning Spain.
5- At their respective clubs, De Rossi suffered one of the heaviest defeats of his career. It was in the Rome-Bayern Munich Champions League, on October 21, 2014. The result was 1-7 at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
6- The last time they met was in the return duel at the Allianz Arena just two weeks later. Xabi Alonso’s men finished the job with 2-0.
Source: La Verdad

I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.