'Magic Moment' to Spark Bayern Munich's Pursuit, According to Bayer Leverkusen Manager Xabi Alonso

web editor

Following Sunday's thrilling 4-3 victory over Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso is confident that his team can make a strong push to catch up to league leaders Bayern Munich. The dramatic win, sealed by Patrick Schick's last-minute goal, saw Leverkusen close the gap to just six points behind Bayern. With eight games remaining in the season, Alonso believes that the momentum from this crucial win will propel his team forward. Having led Leverkusen to their first Bundesliga title last season, Alonso is determined to inspire his players to continue fighting for the top spot in the league.

"At the end this magic moment happened for us," Alonso told DAZN, adding "it means a lot, to have this super feeling.

"We'll use this good atmosphere, this good energy, into the last part of the season. All the players, they believed -- it's definitely a very important win for us."

After Schick's goal, Alonso ran onto the pitch as the Leverkusen bench emptied and embraced the Czech striker.

Leverkusen broke Bayern's 11-year title streak last season by becoming the first team in German history to win a league title unbeaten.

While Bayern eliminated Leverkusen from the last 16 of the Champions League during the week, Alonso said the win showed his side was not done yet.

"We'll see," Alonso said of the title race. "There's eight games left in the Bundesliga. Plenty of things can happen.

"We need to go game from game, win from win. It's not in our hands, we need to wait, but today was important.

"The desire, the will to fight in every game is there. Definitely."

Leverkusen centre-back Jonathan Tah said his side "didn't give up, we believed until the end and maybe you need wins like this sometimes to show that the spirit's still there.

Listen to the latest songs, only on JioSaavn.com

"We're trying to collect all of our points -- and we'll all see at the end whether it's enough."

(This story has not been edited by staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)