After dominating the first hour against AC Milan and managing to secure a 1-0 victory in the Champions League on Tuesday, Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso commended his team for overcoming exhaustion to collect all three points.

Following their 1-1 tie with Bayern Munich on Saturday, Alonso attributed Leverkusen’s inability to shut out Milan despite their well-earned lead of 4-0 against Feyenoord.

Despite this, Leverkusen already has a maximum six points after their opening game.

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“I think it’s great news that German football is competitive. It’s good news for us too to have achieved this result against Milan,” Alonso told Sky Sports.

“Our first sixty minutes were good but in the end we suffered from fatigue after the game against Bayern Munich.

“We showed spirit and character, these three points are very good. In the Champions League you have to know how to suffer and fight, not just play well.”

Leverkusen had numerous opportunities to score in the first half, but they were unable to do so, and a faltering Milan managed to draw even at halftime.

After finally gaining the lead through Victor Boniface early in the second half, Leverkusen was supposed to close out the match, but Milan consistently seemed like they had another gear and could have stolen a tie.

“We struggled a lot to score but maybe after the goal we changed our approach too quickly. Maybe we lacked something on a physical level” Alonso said.

“We had the right respect and took them very seriously.

“The last 20 minutes were not quite as good, but the players gave everything to get the three points.”