German media ‘Sky Sports Germany’ reported on the 7th (Korea time), “Florian Birz was replaced by an injury in the first half of the DFB Pokal round of 16 against SC Fatherborn 07.
Birz is Germany’s best talent that everyone recognizes. He has excellent repression ability based on soft ball touches and dribbles, which cannot be found among players of the same age. As an attacking midfielder, he constantly pokes high-quality passes. He is said to be “Germany’s Iniesta” because his playing style is similar to that of Mario Götze and Iniesta. 슬롯머신
Making his Bundesliga debut at the age of 17 in the 2019/20 season, he broke the Bundesliga’s youngest goal record by scoring a goal against Bayern Munich in the 30th round. Full of form from the 2021/22 season, he literally dominated the league before being injured, scoring 10 goals and 14 assists in 31 games.
After suffering a ruptured cruciate ligament in the mid-to-late 2021/22 season, he failed to play in the Qatar World Cup and did not return until the second half of the 22/23 season. After a year off, he showed his old skills and scored four goals and eight assists in 25 games to lift the relegation zone to sixth place.
Rumors of his transfer continued throughout his career. Last season, Bayern Munich and Liverpool tried to catch him for a huge amount, but he expressed his willingness to stay in the Bundesliga and renewed his contract with Leverkusen until 2027.
After renewing his contract this season, he has displayed his best performance yet again. He has proved once again why he is the greatest talent, with six goals and 10 assists in 20 matches, including two goals and four assists in the Europa League.
Now, Birz has collapsed. Leverkusen beat Paderborn 3-1 in the round of 16 teams of the DFB Pokal at the Bayer Arena in Leverkusen, Germany on Sunday (Korea time). In the very match, Birz appeared in pain.
Birz unfortunately got caught on his left heel in the 44th minute by Paderborn’s Philippe Vilviya. He then struggled on the ground in pain. Birz got up a little later and stumbled to the sideline, but immediately told manager Xavi Alonso he couldn’t continue the situation. Birz, who had fallen, headed straight to the locker room.
Alonso said, “It’s a concerning situation right now. We have to wait and see how the swelling in the ankle goes. We are doing our best to get him to play on Sunday. We will see tomorrow. But we have no reason to be negative.”
If Virtz’s injury gap is prolonged, it will be a big blow to Leverkusen. Since Virtz is the alpha and omega of the attack, the fear of the attack will surely disappear if he is absent.