Europe: Europa League
FT
4 - 0
(2 - 0)
Leverkusen
Slavia Prague
L. Bailey (8), L. Bailey (32), M. Diaby (59), K. Bellarabi (90)
By Rune Gjerulff@runegjerulff

School exam made Florian Wirtz miss Leverkusen's Europa League clash with Slavia Prague

Florian Wirtz was left out of Bayer Leverkusen's squad for Thursday's Europa League win over Slavia Prague due to school.
Florian Wirtz.
Florian Wirtz.
17-year-old Florian Wirtz has featured in almost every game for Bayer Leverkusen this season, but he wasn't in the squad for Thursday's Europa League tie with Slavia Prague.

Leverkusen had already booked their spot in the knockout stages before the game and were without a few key players, including first-choice goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, captain Lars Bender and Wirtz.

Speaking to Kicker after his side's 4-0 victory, Leverkusen coach Peter Bosz explained that the main reason for Wirtz's absence was that he had an important exam on Thursday.

"School is more important than this game," said Bosz about the 17-year-old attacking midfielder, who is still in high school.

It's not the first time Leverkusen have had to manage without a promising young player in Europe for school reasons.

Back in March 2017, Kai Havertz missed a last-16 second leg game in the Champions League against Atlético Madrid due to an important exam.

Match days

German Teams in Europe

DFB-Pokal

German National Team

Long reads

Exclusive interviews

Team News

Bundesliga - FC Bayern - Augsburg