Bayer with a Germany record
Schick sensation brings new luck to super trainer Alonso
December 21, 2023, 8:51 a.m
According to his own information, he is still far from 100 percent. Nevertheless, Patrik Schick scored a hat trick in his first starting eleven appearance in the Bundesliga in 14 months. The Bundesliga has a serious title contender, Germany has a new starting record and a super coach.
After his fantastic comeback in the starting eleven, Patrik Schick traditionally grabbed the match ball as a pre-Christmas present for his hat trick. Sitting back and relaxing is not the order of the day for the Czech striker during the short winter break. “I won’t have much free time,” said the 27-year-old after the 4-0 (3-0) win against VfL Bochum: “I still have a lot of work to do.” Ultimately, says Schick, he’s “not yet at 100 percent. I feel like something is still missing.”
That must sound like a threat to the competition. Because on Wednesday evening, Schick even completely satisfied his perfectionist coach Xabi Alonso. “That was the best possible comeback,” said the former world and European champion: “I couldn’t have expected more.”
Alonso had declared from the start that he had a plan with the professional, who had been suffering from persistent adductor problems for around a year. He slowly introduced him and, after an initial two-game comeback at the end of October, took him out of the squad for a whole month. Since then, Schick has played 213 competitive minutes, which is effectively less than two and a half games. But he has already scored six goals.
This means Schick, who was the second best goalscorer in the Bundesliga with 24 goals in the 21/22 season, is another incredible upgrade for Bayer, who had already stormed through all three competitions before their top scorer returned. Since Wednesday, Leverkusen has the German record for 25 competitive games without defeat from the start of the season. For a short time they shared this with HSV, who played 24 games in the 1982/1983 season.
22 wins, three draws and 81 goals
“We were hoping to play a good first half of the season,” said Alonso: “But even the greatest optimists wouldn’t have expected that.” In the 25 games of the first series, Leverkusen only drew three times, so they collected an incredible 22 wins in total. They scored 81 goals, only conceded 18 and even kept a clean sheet in eleven games. They won their group just as confidently in the Europa League, things are looking fantastic in the league and then there is the DFB Cup.
The first title since 1993 is expected this season. Anything else would be a bit of a disappointment for many people. The chance seems to be greatest in the cup with only three first division teams left in the quarter-finals. But Bayer also has every chance of dethroning series champions FC Bayern after eleven years in the league.
For many, the crucial time is the Africa Cup of Nations in January, when up to five Bayer players will be missing for up to six competitive games. “But not everyone can reach the final,” said Alonso with a laugh. Against Bochum, the last team to beat Bayer in May, he put all five Africans on the bench and openly admitted afterwards that this was a deliberate test. “Of course it was a test,” said Alonso: “But it wasn’t a risk. I’m not taking any risks in a Bundesliga game.”
Apparently it wasn’t really a chic move for the previously strong Victor Boniface. On the other hand, in these 25 games since the summer, almost everything Alonso tried worked. The Spaniard assured that he wanted to relax a bit in the winter. “It’s time for a bit of a break,” he said: “The players, including the staff, we need time to relax. Time for family and friends. We haven’t had much opportunity to see friends recently.” And when he watches football, “then as a fan, not as a coach.” Then the attack on up to three titles really begins. “We want to keep going and not stop,” said Alonso. Schick is setting a good example.