Schick's comeback goal "for the head, soul and heart"
Patrik Schick's first route was to the bench. But not to his coach Xabi Alonso or one of his colleagues, no, after his redemptive comeback goal, the Czech striker from Bayer Leverkusen ran straight to Karl-Heinrich Dittmar. The team doctor had closely followed the 27-year-old during his year-long illness. Shortly afterwards, all the players followed suit and Schick was engulfed in a cloud of jubilation.
"It was very emotional to be able to celebrate with the staff and the players after such a long time," said the 27-year-old after scoring his first goal in 284 days with the 2-0 final score at Swedish cup winners BK Häcken (74'). "The fact that he scored was important for the soul, for the head and the heart," said sporting director Simon Rolfes. And Alonso explained: "That was an important step for him. And a wonderful moment for everyone. He had to fight a lot to be fit again."
"I haven't played for so long. It's not easy to come back after such a long injury," said Schick, who was still the second-best Bundesliga goalscorer in the 21/22 season with 24 goals: "I had already come back once, then there were problems again. That's why I'm very happy to have scored a goal. Now it's time to move on."
Strictly speaking, Schick has even had two halted comebacks. After being out of action from the beginning of November until mid-February, his season was over after six substitute appearances. After his two-match return in October, he was again out of the squad for five competitive matches. Until Thursday in the fifth Europa League group game at the venerable Ullevi stadium in Gothenburg in sleet and minus two degrees. Schick came on in the 63rd minute and scored eleven minutes later.
"He has the goal-scoring gene in his blood. You could see that, he was right on the spot," said Rolfes: "He's going to be a very, very important player this season." Especially right after the winter break, when Victor Boniface, who has stepped into the breach, plays with Nigeria at the Africa Cup.
Thanks to the win in Sweden, the Bundesliga leaders, who have won 18 of their 19 competitive matches, are now also the only Europa League team with a perfect record of five wins. Until Thursday, Schick had hardly been able to contribute to this. But this time the comeback should be sustainable.
In the Europa League, Bayer Leverkusen continued their dominance with a win against Swedish cup winners BK Häcken, and Patrik Schick played a significant role in the victory by scoring a crucial goal. Following his comeback after a year-long illness, Schick expressed his joy at returning to the pitch and scoring for Bayer Leverkusen in a Europa League game against BK Häcken.
Source: www.dpa.com
