Xabi Alonso praises Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta after Bayer Leverkusen lost 4-1 to Gunners
Arsenal strolled to a 4-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Emirates Stadium this evening in the Emirates Cup, with the Gunners impressing in their penultimate friendly game before the 2024-25 campaign kicks off proper.
First-half goals from Oleksandr Zinchenko, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus put the North Londoners in a very comfortable lead heading into the break, and Kai Havertz put them 4-0 up in the 65th minute before Leverkusen pulled one back in the 76th minute.
Arsenal head into the Emirates Cup final against Lyon on Sunday in high spirits and will be desperate to hit the ground running when the new Premier League season starts.
Gunners manager Mikel Arteta wants to go one better after coming close to winning the league title in each of the last two seasons, and his friend and Leverkusen counterpart Xabi Alonso has showered praise on him.
“Competitive. He has been always a competitive animal,” the Bundesliga-winning manager said after the game.
“Here you can see how he has developed a great project.
“You could see that he wanted to win and he was preparing for that, you know. It is a fruit of many decisions that he has taken that they reach here in Arsenal.”
Arteta put in his very best over the last two seasons but it was not enough to stop Manchester City. The Spaniard has added Italy international defender Riccardo Calafiori to his squad this summer and talks are ongoing over a deal to bring Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino to Arsenal before the window shuts.
An attacker is also believed to be on the radar of the Gunners, but nothing has materialised on that end so far.
Arteta and his men will feel confident of their chances in 2024-25, and time will tell if they have done enough to finally stop Man City.
