Alonso confirms Schick's absence against St. Pauli and discusses options to replace him
| Photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images |
Bayer Leverkusen had good reason to celebrate after knocking Bayern Munich out of the DFB-Pokal with a 1-0 win on Tuesday.
However, there was a fly in the ointment for Die Werkself, as in-form striker Patrik Schick went down with a calf injury that will keep him out of Saturday's Bundesliga game against St. Pauli.
"Patrick will not be available tomorrow. Maybe on Tuesday (against Inter in the Champions League), but not tomorrow," said Xabi Alonso at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
Alonso added that apart from Schick and the long-term injured Victor Boniface, Amine Adli and Jonas Hofmann, everyone else is fit.
With Schick and Boniface both out injured, the Spanish coach named Florian Wirtz, Nathan Tella and the recently-returned Martin Terrier as options up front.
He also made it clear that Terrier is fully fit after recovering from a broken forearm.
“He's much, much better. He can play freely, is ready to start and has been training well,” stressed Xabi Alonso.
