Bayer Leverkusen will have to do without Florian Wirtz in the tricky final spurt of the season. The young national player is out for several months with a cruciate ligament tear – also a loss for the DFB selection.
Federal coach Hansi Flick encouraged Florian Wirtz on Sunday evening. “He’s still young, he’ll come back at least as strong, I’m quite sure of that. He gets our full support,” said the head coach of the German Football Association (DFB). dfb.de after calling Wirtz and trying to “encourage him”.
The 18-year-old suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in his left knee in Bayer Leverkusen’s 0-1 (0-0) derby against his former club 1. FC Köln. “We wish him all the best and keep our fingers crossed that the healing process is as optimal as possible,” emphasized Flick, hoping that the teenager will be fit again by the time of the World Cup finals in Qatar (November 21 to December 18).
Because the youngster “is one of the greatest talents that German football has produced in recent years,” said the national coach, “that’s why we were all shocked when we found out about his cruciate ligament rupture.”
Wirtz plays a role in Flick’s World Cup plans, although the eight months should be enough to be able to get involved in the World Cup in Qatar again. However, a break of six months must be assumed due to the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in the left knee, which was confirmed by an MRI scan on Sunday.
Bayer Leverkusen: It’s not just the Wirtz injury that hurts
The day could not have been more dramatic for Wirtz and the Werkself. The exceptional player, once trained at FC and then switched to Bayer on the other side of the Rhine, twisted his knee in a duel with Luca Kilian in the first half. He immediately indicated with a fearful look that the injury could be worse. After minutes of treatment, he was taken from the field on a stretcher (28th).
It is also a bitter loss for Bayer in the fight for a place in the Champions League. Because Wirtz has become more and more the lynchpin of the Leverkusen game in recent weeks and months. On Thursday (6.45 p.m.) Bayer is under pressure in the round of 16 second leg of the Europa League against Atalanta Bergamo after the 2: 3 in the first leg and has to turn the tide without Wirtz.
In the Bundesliga, the team coached by Gerardo Seoane is still on the Champions League spot that was the goal before the season, but the air is getting thinner. Freiburg, Hoffenheim and Leipzig are just a point behind Leverkusen.
In addition, another support player in the Bayer game with an ankle injury had to be replaced in Jeremie Frimpong after 13 minutes on Sunday, as did Odilon Kossounou with muscular problems. In addition, striker Patrik Schick (torn muscle fiber) is already missing a key player in the long term.
