Florian Wirtz surprisingly didn’t make it into the Leverkusen starting line-up for the away game in Dortmund at the start of the year. Not for sporting reasons, as we could hear.
Surprisingly missing from the Leverkusen starting line-up: Florian Wirtz.
IMAGO/Noah Wedel
It was a surprise when Florian Wirtz didn’t appear in Leverkusen’s starting lineup. And not just because the club had published an initial lineup on the X platform around an hour before kick-off in Dortmund, in which the top star was in the starting line-up. So why was the 21-year-old missing from the kick-off in Dortmund?
“Something unexpected happened this morning, but he has no problems. It’s something internal. He’s there for the second half, no problem,” said coach Xabi Alonso DAZNwithout really clarifying the question. So that DAZNExpert Michael Ballack immediately speculated that it must be “something disciplinary.”
The former captain of the German national team apparently demonstrated a good nose. As was to become apparent in the interview with Simon Rolfes shortly afterwards. “There was a small problem, but he can play in the second half,” explained Leverkusen’s managing director, “but that was a coaching decision.”
-“A small topic”
When Ballack then asked whether it was a disciplinary measure, Rolfes did not deny it and only said: “It was a small issue this morning, so Xabi decided that, but nothing dramatic beyond that. Florian can certainly play, but not from the start to.”
After the statements it was clear: Wirtz was definitely fully operational. Since Rolfes did not deny that it was a disciplinary measure, it could be assumed that it was one, possibly late for the morning sweat.
After 63 minutes, Wirtz was allowed to enter the field with the score at 3-1. BVB was able to shorten the gap thanks to Serhou Guirassy, but the national player ultimately helped to secure the win over time.
Belgium
