Bayer Leverkusen has achieved many brilliant victories. The 2-1 win in Wolfsburg was a work victory. And that showed how strong the squad is across the board.
For once, Bayer Leverkusen didn’t have control of the game for half an hour – and then came Florian Wirtz. With the substitution of the 20-year-old, who had been given a breather after two international matches in the starting line-up, the Werkself took control of the game at VfL Wolfsburg again as if at the push of a button, won 2-1 (1-1) and scored 22 points With 24 possible points, Borussia Dortmund immediately went back to the top of the table after one night. This showed Wirtz’s class – and the breadth of the Leverkusen squad, which is maturing into a real championship contender.
Wirtz becomes a can opener
“Flo had a very, very big influence on our game today,” said coach Xabi Alonso. The young star came into a game that was unusually complicated for Bayer this season in the 60th minute when the score was 1-1. A minute later he set up a chance for Victor Boniface, who missed it. Another minute later, Alejandro Grimaldo scored the winning goal after Wirtz narrowly missed the ball.
“You can see that we have a bench that can bring us back to life and give us fire again,” said leader Granit Xhaka: “There’s no need to talk about the fact that Flo Wirtz’s qualities are incredible. He’s brutal important player. But we have enough quality that everyone gets a break sometimes.”
More rotation in English weeks
Alonso had actually found his starting eleven. In the first seven league games he had used the same formation six times; the only previous change was due to Exequiel Palacios’ late international return. In Wolfsburg, Alonso made two changes, with the result that he basically won the game off the bench. The former world and European champion made it clear that he wanted to rotate more in the future. “We’ve now had three English weeks in a row. If we always play with the same line-up it’s almost impossible.”
Further evidence of the depth of the squad was the fact that striker Patrik Schick was ultimately not substituted on during his squad comeback after 226 days. Alonso explained that the game was not suitable for this. “The game was very close and very intense,” said the coach: “If we have a little more control of the game, it will be better for a first game after seven months. But we hope that he can get his chance in the next game.”
Werkself continue to be successful
The fact that Bayer, after many brilliant performances, ended such a challenging game with a working victory gives further impetus. “We show completely different faces,” said Xhaka: “But if things don’t go well, we are there for each other.”
This range increases respect among the competition. An ambitious team like Wolfsburg made a special change to the tried and tested system on Saturday. “If you play with a back four against Leverkusen, it’s difficult to defend,” said coach Niko Kovac. And drew the satisfied conclusion: “We were able to keep up.” Leverkusen finished last season with one point more than Wolfsburg.
In the end, it was even more annoying for sports director Marcel Schäfer that VfL was not the second club after FC Bayern (2:2) to score against the Werkself. “If you get three, four, five against such a strong team, then you know why and go home,” he said: “Now we’ve played a decent game. That makes it even more difficult to accept it.”
Source: Stern
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