Xabi Alonso after Hoffenheim win: "I had hope until the very end"

Maximilian Beier opened the scoring in the first half to upset the Bayer 04 home crowd as they went into half time one-nil down. Substitute Borja Iglesias hit the woodwork late on for Bayer Leverkusen, and it looked like it was to be one of those days.

However, late goals from Robert Andrich and Patrik Schick meant that they turned the game around and got a two-one win which extended their lead at the top of the Bundesliga table to thirteen points.

After the tie, Xabi Alonso spoke to Sky Germany and said: "I had hope until the very end. We needed one goal to change the game. Bayer (Leverkusen) have a lot of counter attacks, they are specialists in this. We had two counters and scored two goals."

He added: "This is one step forward, one less game. It was emotional for me, it was a special moment to share (following the news of him staying at the club)."

Lastly, he said: "The atmosphere was super. In the last minute against Qarabağ, the atmosphere was amazing and against Bayern (Munich) also."