Florian Wirtz, the statement and the dream come true

A perfect CL debut: Florian Wirtz.
IMAGO/Kirchner Media

Leon Elsaß reports from Rotterdam

It is not known where Florian Wirtz will ultimately place his “Man of the Match” award, whether it will find a place in a display cabinet or whether it will be left to gather dust in some attic. The only thing that is certain is that this award, given out by UEFA on a game-by-game basis, will be a very nice souvenir of his first appearance on the big Champions League stage. Things could hardly have gone better for Wirtz, who was outstanding before the break.

In the 4-0 win in Rotterdam, he scored the 1-0 with a left-footed shot after Robert Andrich won the ball (5th minute). He then completed a counterattack with a spectacular volley to make it 3-0 (36th minute). Wirtz thus gave the Werkself a comfortable lead – and not only became the first German professional and first Leverkusen player to score at least twice on his Champions League debut, but is now also the youngest Bayer player to score multiple times in a match in the premier class.

“Flo does Flo things,” said captain and goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky, who was quite astonished to have actually seen Wirtz in the premier class for the first time. But in fact: Due to his cruciate ligament tear in March 2022, Leverkusen’s attacking player had missed the Werkself’s Champions League appearance in the 2022/23 season. At the age of 21, Leverkusen’s exceptional player has now given his opinion.

For Wirtz a dream comes true

“I’ve been really looking forward to the game for the past few days,” explained Wirtz, who also spoke of a “very nice feeling” that he had “worked towards for a long time.” “Now,” said the Werkself professional, “the dream has finally come true.”

In the end, the German international, who was as committed as ever, had three shots on goal – the third flew wide under pressure (51st minute) -, provided three assists and won each of his six duels. “That’s a good way to start,” grinned managing director Simon Rolfes, who had seen “a really good game” from Bayer’s number 10. “He’s getting better and better, was once again a threat to the goal today” and is getting better and better with new signing Martin Terrier.

“At this level, he will continue to mature and learn. It is in these big games that you learn to play like an adult, to know how important each individual action is and to stay calm,” Rolfes explained before his debut. And Wirtz, who was active in the half-spaces as usual and repeatedly turned up the heat, immediately demonstrated that he was capable of this mature and effective game in a heated atmosphere. A strong statement from Leverkusen’s creative director, without a doubt.

Xabi Alonso praises Wirtz’s influence

Xabi Alonso also spoke of Wirtz’s “great character”, saying that he “always wants to try something” without thinking too much about it. “We see that especially in the bad moments,” said Bayer’s coach, who cited the Supercup match against VfB Stuttgart (4:3 on penalties) as an example, “when we had to play with ten players and he came on the field for the last 15 minutes. He had a big influence there,” which shows his “great personality.”

What does he need to work on? “My goal is for him to develop further and become even more effective,” explained Xabi Alonso, knowing full well that Wirtz is already performing at a top level. Nevertheless, he was not nominated for the Ballon d’Or. Hradecky said: “Perhaps it is still too early, but if he sticks with it, he has a good chance in the future.” His debut in Rotterdam was just more recent proof that Wirtz is capable of exceptional performances.