Four Schick goals and four Wirtz scorer points: Leverkusen cap sensational 2024
The defending champs will spend the winter break in second place, four points behind Bayern after this evening's result.
| Patrik Schick celebrates scoring one of his four goals on Saturday night. | Christof Köpsel, Getty Images |
Defending Bundesliga champions Bayer 04 Leverkusen enter the 2024 winter break with eight consecutive wins on-the-spin after humbling Julian Schuster's visiting SC Freiburg 5-1 at the BayArena on Saturday evening. Xabi Alonso's team answered league leader FC Bayern München's Friday night rout of Leipzig with one of their own. Schuster's Freiburg had their moments, yet couldn't overcome the likes of Patrik Schick and Florian Wirtz. Schick scored four goals in the victory. Wirtz notched one tally and also registered a hat trick of assists.
Schuster stuck with the same XI that lined up against Wolfsburg last Friday night while Xabi went with two changes to the team that defeated Augsburg 2-0 in the league last Saturday. Schick and Exequiel Palacios replaced Robert Andrich and Martin Terrier. The "Werkself" played elegant and composed football over the opening half-hour, looking very much like a team deserving to take the lead with a first-rate optical game.
The chance to take the completely earned lead came shortly after the half-hour mark when Ritsu Doan took out Wirtz in the box. Wirtz opted to take the 32nd-minute penalty himself, but found his master in the form of SCF and Germany U21 keeper Noah Atubolu. The rising German talent - in a highly impressive feat - stopped Wirtz via his third consecutive penalty save.
The Westphalian hosts were bale to grab the lead shortly before half-time. Wirtz atoned for his miss with a splendid set-up of Schick on the 1-0 at 45+1. The German phenom adroitly spotted Atubolu charging out of the net. Schick was able to beat Atubolu with a lob over. Freiburg did put in a disciplined defensive performance over the course of the first-half and also struck the goal-frame once.
Wirtz himself scored the 2-0 six minutes after the restart, skillfully beating Lucas Höler in a direct duel after some nice play in combos from Palacios and Granit Xhaka. Shortly after that, however, Vincenzo Grifo gave the Breisgauer guests a little bit of hope with his own artful distance effort in the 55th. Grifo's 1-2 came courtesy of some poor passing and positional play from Schick and Palacios.
Schick's ball loss on Grifo's goal would soon be forgotten when the Czech international stunningly scored three goals in the space of ten minutes. Wirtz set up Schick's 3-1 in the 67th with a cross in from the right. After Grifo became the second Freiburg player to hit the post in the 73rd, Wirtz redirected a Nathan Tella cross onto Schick's boot for the 4-1 in the 74th.
Schick then headed home an Alejandro Grimaldo corner in the 77th for the 5-1. Schick's three goals - scored in one half without any other tallies interrupting - meant that the 28-year-old earned a German "Lupenreiner" hat trick. Mercifully, Xabi's crew backed off a bit after the result was clear. The 5-1 scoreline held until the full-time whistle.
