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Bayer Leverkusen: When Wirtz leaves the pitch, things get emotional

Bundesliga Bayer Leverkusen

When Wirtz leaves the pitch, things get emotional

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In Leverkusen’s win against VfL Bochum, Florian Wirtz played from the start for the first time after a long injury break. The spectators show flair when he is substituted. The highlights of Witz’ strong game here in the video.

318 days feels like an eternity in professional football. 318 days out of the starting XI, serious injury, a lot of frustration, missed the World Cup – and then this: Florian Wirtz played from the start for the first time since March 13 and was one of the protagonists of Bayer Leverkusen’s fifth win in a row.

But then, after his successful start-up comeback, he left the big stage to his teammates. With the hood of his thick jacket pulled down over his forehead, the German international crept almost incognito to celebrate with the Werkself fans after the 2-0 (1-0) win over VfL Bochum. The 19-year-old acted rather inconspicuously on the field, but he also set a highlight in the preparation of the second goal. 53 minutes: A sharp, low cross from the left hits the first post. That’s where Adam Hlozek came in, was a tad quicker than Bochum’s defender Vasilios Lampropoulos and punched the ball through the legs of VfL goalkeeper Manuel Riemann.

Also thanks to Wirtz, last year’s third-placed team worked their way up to eighth place after a disastrous start to the season with only two wins from the first twelve games. The European Cup ranks are back in sight faster than expected. For Bochum, on the other hand, a series of three wins ended. The Westphalians last celebrated four successes in a row in 1980. VfL slipped back to the relegation place at the end of the first half of the season. “The chances we had, we could have scored at least one goal. That was the difference today,” said Anthony Losilla.

Wirtz had a lot of freedom in central midfield

Unlike the effective Leverkusen. Moussa Diaby was caught on the foot in the eighth minute at the end of a solo by Keven Schlotterbeck. Although Leverkusen played the situation to the end and Hlozek failed at Bochum goalkeeper Riemann, referee Timo Gerach from Landau in der Pfalz gave a penalty on his first division debut according to video evidence. The 36-year-old referee is not on the 24-name list of Bundesliga referees, but was given a chance as part of a model by referee boss Lutz-Michael Fröhlich. It was the eleventh penalty against Bochum this season, which is a Bundesliga record in the first half of the season.

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Wirtz didn’t take the penalty just yet, but let Tapsoba have the ball. The Burkina Faso defender, previously a solid marksman in Portugal with nine goals in nine attempts in all competitions for Vitória Guimarães, shot his first Bundesliga penalty untenably under the bar. Something like a savior could have been found for Leverkusen – the last six penalties have been awarded in all competitions, including the last four in the Bundesliga.

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And Wirtz? The 19-year-old, who tore his cruciate ligament in March and made his first 15-minute appearance last Sunday in the 3-2 draw in Mönchengladbach, had a lot of freedom in central midfield. At first, however, it was not involved again as before, and of course it also lacked the otherwise so impressive self-image in its actions. Only one shot on goal, one assist and 21 ball contacts were in the statistics for him until the break.

But he was diligent, no other Leverkusen ran more. And slowly found its way into the game. When he was substituted after 71 minutes and 45 touches, the spectators rose and celebrated him.

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