“Not seen often”
Fabulous Wirtz solo arouses great comparisons
October 30, 2023, 6:07 p.m
14 ball contacts in one dribble, an opponent who loses his bearings: Florian Wirtz’s solo against SC Freiburg inspires teammates and opponents. Bayer coach Xabi Alonso is also delighted.
Florian Wirtz snuggled up deeply in his winter jacket, did the usual lap of honor and disappeared into the cabin without a word. After his magic show, others took over the praise. “World class”, “outstanding” – simply indefensible. With his magical solo run to make it 1-0, the ball artist was reminiscent of legendary goals from Lionel Messi, Diego Maradona and Augustine “Jay-Jay” Okocha.
“To be honest, I haven’t seen such a special goal often,” said Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso, who has experienced a lot in his successful career, after the 2-1 (1-0) win against SC Freiburg: “There’s something I can’t teach him – for example today.”
Alonso listed: “Leroy Sané, Jamal Musiala, Flo – there are not many players in the Bundesliga who can do such a special action,” said the 41-year-old Spaniard: “The goal was brutal, he will definitely still be in remember it for many years.” Wirtz then got in touch via Instagram. “I love this team,” the national player wrote in a celebration photo after his opening goal (36th), which amazed teammates, coaches and opponents.
It’s Wirtz’s ring
Wirtz turned the BayArena into a circus ring, made his opponent Nicolas Höfler look like an amateur footballer and slipped into space three times. With his 14th contact with the ball in a single dribble, he caressed the ball into the far corner with his left hand.
“Outstanding, he does the same thing to me in training,” said Bayer goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky: “Today he was world class, that was the can opener. When he plays like that, he’s hard to stop.” The opponents saw it that way too. “Florian Wirtz cannot be defended,” stated Freiburg coach Christian Streich. “To be able to stand out in such a good team is something that speaks for him,” said SC captain Vincenzo Grifo.
Wirtz also scored the second goal by DFB colleague Jonas Hofmann (60th) after a fantastic solo from his own half. During the week he had already excelled in the 5-1 win in the Europa League against Qarabag Agdam with a goal and three assists. On Wednesday (6 p.m./Sky and in the live ticker at ntv.de) The league leader now has to face third division team SV Sandhausen in the cup.
Things should be less exciting there. “It’s also nice to win like that sometimes, but to suffer a little at the end,” said Bayer captain Hradecky: “The standards are an issue for us, but otherwise we controlled everything.” Especially thanks to the next magical Wirtz show.