ZAt least for a brief moment, for four or five seconds, the small Ulrich Haberland Stadium right next to the BayArena on Saturday afternoon was actually filled with the magic that the 1400 spectators more or less secretly expected during the friendly between Bayer Leverkusen and FC Venice had hoped. A few people had also come to watch their favorite teams develop, to confirm the unfortunate suspicion that coach Xabi Alonso was still playing defensive football, which was rather cautious compared to the squad’s capabilities.
The main attraction of the afternoon, however, was Florian Wirtz, on whose rare attacking skills not only all Leverkusen players hope. And the 19-year-old host actually delighted his audience with a goal that warmed everyone’s heart. He’d made a couple of smart passes before that, had moved a lot, and now he was painting that intricate dribble from the left flank into the penalty area onto the grass, during which six opponents tried in vain to prevent him from scoring. The teenager’s shot landed in the goal for the Werkself to make it 1-0, the crowd was delighted, and coach Xabi Alonso later said: “That’s the magic of special players, you can’t train that, that’s their nature, their talent .”
