Bayer 04 struggled to create clear scoring chances against Mainz for a long time. Until, yes, until Alejandro Grimaldo artfully sank a free kick to make it 1-0 and made his coach Xabi Alonso rave.
Precisely holed: Alejandro Grimaldo secures Bayer’s victory against Mainz with a trick shot.
picture alliance / HMB Media
It is well known that Alejandro Grimaldo can shoot dangerous free kicks. The Spaniard fires it over the wall using a special topspin technique in such a way that the ball suddenly drops quickly as if by magic and hits the goal. In the 48th minute of Leverkusen’s 1-0 win against Mainz, the left-footer demonstrated that he can also sink the ball in this way from a position just outside the penalty area. His goal from a half-right position into the top right corner was a feast for the eyes.
I don’t know that many players who have that kind of technique.
Xabi Alonso was correspondingly euphoric in his assessment of the stunt of his left-hand rail player, who so often appears as a disguised playmaker in the center and also shoots free kicks like football’s big tens. “I don’t know that many players who have that kind of technique,” Leverkusen’s coach enthused afterwards. “There was a Brazilian who could shoot the ball in that curve from that short distance.” Xabi Alonso was probably referring to Olympique Lyon’s Juninho, who magically converted a series of free kicks for the then French series champions from 2001 to 2009.
Grimaldo, who last scored with a free kick in the 5-0 win in the Champions League against Salzburg in November, has mastered this art so confidently that the free kick whistle in that 48th minute reminded his coach, who was able to observe these free kicks much more often in training , immediately put me in euphoria. “It’s his typical kick. When I saw that the free kick was in this position, I knew we had a good chance and thought to myself: Come on, Grimi! That was great,” said Xabi Alonso, “and a very important goal for us.”
Finally, Grimaldo’s dream goal, which he celebrated at the corner flag with an imitation golf shot in which he looked after the imaginary ball, ensured that the double winner also won against Mainz, who had previously defended very attentively and compactly, and extended his series to ten competitive game wins expanded into series production.
Is that a question? Of course you can’t keep it!
Grimaldo has already demonstrated his shooting skills several times in the league. For example, last season in the 2-2 draw in the top game at FC Bayern Munich – and also in the 3-0 draw in Mainz, when Robin Zentner was once again left behind, as was the case on Tuesday evening. “Is that a question? Of course you can’t hold it!” the FSV keeper explained, slightly annoyed, when asked whether the ball was unstoppable.
No wonder, Zentner had played a good game, but at Grimaldo’s free kick, like the 30,210 in the stands at the BayArena, they only had to be content with being spectators.
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