With his two goals from crosses, Patrik Schick was a key player in Bayer 04’s passage to the quarter-finals of the Europa League in the 3-2 win against Qarabag Agdam. However, his wish for more crosses in the Bundesliga is not fulfilled.
Patrik Schick scored three times from crosses in two games against Qarabag Agdam. IMAGO/Uwe Kraft
It was typical chic. At 2-2, the center forward went to Alejandro Grimaldo’s low cross to the near post and scored. When the score was 3-2, the Joker stole away at the far post behind the visitors’ defense and pushed Exequiel Palacios’ perfectly timed cross ball over the line with his forehead. “Patrik is back where he needs to be, he’s done the thing twice,” said teammate Robert Andrich appreciatively.
For Schick himself, the brace, his first of this calendar year, in which he is still waiting for his Bundesliga goal, was a great relief. And so he also used the moment of triumph to advertise for more food for him and the center forward. Competitor Borja Iglesias.
Send a simple calculation
“If we hit a lot of crosses, there’s a good chance we’ll score a lot of goals,” Schick explained clearly, “that’s something I miss in the Bundesliga.” In front of the two measured crosses, the 28-year-old remained rather inconspicuous after being substituted on.
But when Bayer played all or nothing in the final spurt, he was able to use his qualities profitably. “When we had to score a goal, the crosses came. And when they come, I’m there and ready,” explained the goalscorer.
“It’s worth crossing to Patrik”
But it is unlikely that Schick’s wish for more crosses will be fulfilled quickly. Simon Rolfes had already highlighted this element after the 2-2 draw in the first leg in Baku against the Azerbaijani champions, after the Czech had equalized with a header from an Andrich cross in stoppage time. “It’s worth crossing with Patrik. He has outstanding quality in the header game,” said the managing director, “recently Borja Iglesias and Patrik had to work a lot but didn’t get into the finishing touches.”
But Xabi Alonso made it clear on Friday that high crosses are not and will not be his first stylistic tool of choice: “In Baku and yesterday there were moments when we wanted to take a little more risk. We had four or five players in the penalty area “With crosses you have to take a bit of a risk – at the right moment. And sometimes you have to control it a bit,” said the coach. “Last week against Wolfsburg we didn’t cross that much, but when we have the opportunity, we have to use them. But at the right moment.”
At the right moment – which means something like: When it really has to be. The Basque prefers it when his team combines their scoring chances as designed on the drawing board. With maximum control. And the 42-year-old explicitly requested this on Friday for Sunday’s game at SC Freiburg. No wonder after the wild ride in the Europa League against Qarabag Agdam.
Schick has a place in the starting eleven
Then Schick should start again after his effective Joker appearance. Xabi Alonso will take advantage of the attacker’s delicate upward trend. “For a striker, the most important thing is to score goals. Now it was two and the key to reaching the next round,” praised the coach. “Patrik had a very good influence on the game. We also need a good Patrik on Sunday .”
“No fiber tears” at Hofmann
Who can then speculate less on crosses and instead has to hope to benefit more from Leverkusen’s combination play than in the past few weeks. It is questionable whether Jonas Hofmann can contribute to this. The offensive player, who had to be substituted after less than half an hour due to muscular problems, is in jeopardy.
However, there is no risk of a longer outage, as an MRI scan showed on Friday. So Xabi Alonso gave the all-clear: “It’s not that bad. We’ll see what happens on Sunday. But there’s good news, he doesn’t have a torn fiber. We’ll wait and see what it looks like tomorrow.”
Boniface comeback against Hoffenheim?
Not yet in Freiburg, but perhaps in the first game after the international period, there is a possibility that Victor Boniface will be ready for action again. The Nigerian international striker is working on returning to team training after undergoing adductor surgery in January. “If everything goes well,” said Xabi Alonso on Friday, “he could perhaps be there against Hoffenheim.” Then Schick will have an extremely strong competitor – who, as a completely different type of player, does not rely on crosses.
2024-03-15 15:14:16
#Leverkusen #crosses #Schick #waiting
