The young national player Florian Wirtz (right) showed his class for 45 minutes in the friendly against FC Zurich.
Copyright: IMAGO/Beautiful Sports
Bayer 04 Leverkusen won the friendly against FC Zurich 4-1. Young star Florian Wirtz played against the Swiss champions for a half after tearing his cruciate ligament and scoring to make it 2-0.
Bitter as much of the first half of the season had been, the football year ended on a positive note for the professionals at Bayer Leverkusen. With a 4-1 (2-0) friendly win against Swiss champions FC Zurich, Xabi Alonso’s side said goodbye to the 16-day winter break.
279 days after rupturing his cruciate ligament, Florian Wirtz returned to the starting eleven for the first time and played an overtime first half. Even if at the beginning the noble technician made some stick errors, in the end he raised the bar. Before the 1-0 Moussa Diaby puts a lot of pressure on the opposing goalkeeper (38′) and then decisively deflects the Frenchman’s shot. When he was released by Jeremie Frimpong and Adam Hlozek in the penalty area on the left, he scored to make it 2-0 (45′).
After this artistic shot, the 19-year-old was replaced. Sardar Azmoun came on the break and contributed to the next goal. The Iranian World Cup driver scored the 3-0 (63rd) on a pass from Callum Hudson-Odoi, now permanently on loan at Leverkusen until summer 2023.
More friendlies against FC Venice and FC Copenhagen
Even Cheick Conde’s 3-1 immediate goal could not spoil the mood among the 3,000 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium (64th). With the 4-1 counter-goal, Amine Adli caressed the footballer’s soul (86th). The good mood of the fans was then rewarded with a colorful pre-Christmas programme. After the contemplative days, the Bundesliga club will train for the first time in the new year in the BayArena on January 3 (11 a.m.). Other friendlies will be played in Leverkusen against FC Venice (7.1.) and FC Copenhagen (15.1.).
