I Won’t Cry Over Victor Boniface, Others – Xabi Alonso Insists

The manager of Bayer Leverkusen, Xabi Alonso has stressed that he won’t cry over the possibility of being without their top Nigerian striker, Victor Boniface, and others for at least a month.

Victor Boniface and his countryman, Nathan Tella, Burkina Faso’s Edmond Tapsoba, Ivory Coast’s Amine Adli, and Morocco’s Odilon Kossounou, will travel to Africa for the 2023 AFCON which will commence in Ivory Coast on January 13, 2024.

This means that Bayer Leverkusen wouldn’t only battle to remain top of the German Bundesliga without their top striker and four-time Rookie of the Month winner Victor Boniface, but they will have to survive without four others.

With the AFCON running from January 13th to February 11th, the aforementioned players could miss Bayer Leverkusen’s league games against Leipzig and Bayern Munich, as well as the Cup tie against high-flying Stuttgart.

However, Alonso has insisted he has a robust squad with players who can step up in the absence of others.

“That’s the game calendar,” the former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder said according to the Kicker.

“We are losing some players (for the AFCON), but we have seen that all players can play. We will decide so that we have a competitive team.”

This was made clear on Thursday when the reserve team of Bayer Leverkusen humiliated Molde, a Norwegian team, 5-1 in their final Europa League group match.

After his team’s stunning victory, Alonso goes on to say, “I’m not crying,” indicating that he has no reason to be upset over losing five players due to AFCON, a situation he knew may occur from the start of the season.