Bayer Leverkusen vs Freiburg Player Ratings: Schick’s poker sinks Freiburg as Leverkusen close the gap at the top of the table

Patrick Schick scored an incredible poker as Bayer Leverkusen shot Freiburg down courtesy of a 5-1 win. The Czech Republic international had a brace with his left foot and head and was a right-footed goal away from a perfect hat trick. Wirtz scored the other for the hosts as Grifo pulled one back for the visitors.

Leverkusen started the game on the front foot but were kept at bay as Freiburg defended patiently. Wirtz however was magical with his footwork and was hacked down by Doan to win a penalty. It was an uncharacteristically poor penalty from Wirtz as the keeper guessed it and went the right way to parry it behind. A goalless first half was on the cards but the defending champions stuck through Schick. Wirtz played Schick in behind and he showed good control to drive at the keeper and bury it past him.

Wirtz in the second half made up for his miss as he got on the end of a Palacios through ball and chopped past one defender before firing it to the keeper’s near post on the left. Freiburg thought they had a ticket into the game when Grifo finished a layoff from his striker. But the visitors couldn’t use their momentum as Schick stuck again. He headed Wirtz’s fine cross past the keeper to give his side the insurance once again. In another sweeping move, Wirtz laid off Tella’s cross for Schick to sweep home and finish his hat trick.

Grimaldo then put a corner right onto Schick’s head as got another poker for him. Schick already scored 4 for Leverkusen in a single game back in 2021.

Bayer Leverkusen continue their hot pursuit of Bayern Munich with this win. Only 4 points separate both the teams at the top as the league takes a Christmas break. Leverkusen would be in action against a struggling Dortmund and Freiburg host Holstein Kiel on the other side of the break.

Bayer Leverkusen PLayer Ratings vs Freiburg

Goalkeeper

Lukas Hradecky: 7/10- Hradecky was beaten with Freiburg’s first real attack of the game. He was lucky as the post denied them once and made few good claims to disrupt the visitors’ momentum.

Defenders

Edmond Tapsoba: 7/10- Was largely untroubled as he enjoyed his time on the ball and has the best passing rate of all players.

Jonathan Tah: 6.5/10- He was caught out for Freiburg’s goal and couldn’t react quickly enough as Grifo got the shot away.

Piero Hincapie: 7/10- Defended the wide areas well with his recovery pace and often stepped up to progress the ball.

Midfielders

Jeremie Frimpong: 7/10- Was untroubled defensively but would be disappointed not to have any attacking returns. Had a couple of chances to grab a goal but he fluffed them.

Granit Xhaka: 8/10- The Swiss veteran is excellent as a controller for the defending champions and was doing a lot of ball-winning to set his side on the go.

Exequiel Palacios: 8/10- Another impressive performance in the middle of the park for the Argentine technician. His ability to keep things simple gave Leverkusne a lot of time to control and he slipped in Wirtz with a through ball to pick up an assist.

Alejandro Grimaldo: 7.5/10- The wingback enjoys these kinds of games where he can go ahead with the ball and deliver into the box. Helped himself to an assist after finding Schick delightfully in the box.

Attackers

Nathan Tella: 8/10- Tella was a quick outlet for Leverkusen on the right-hand side. He was an outball for the team and led them on multiple counterattacks. Gave a hard time to Gunther marking him.

Florian WIrtz: 9/10- The mercurial German was at his unplayable best tonight. He kept asking for the ball and created chances. His only blot would be missing the penalty which he won himself in the first half. Made up for it with an assist to Schick for the opener and a goal of his own in the second half.

Patrik Schick: 10/10- The striker scored yet another poker and every finish was a well-taken one. Showed great composure to run a long way before slotting in the opener. He got a head brace before nothing else with his left foot.

Substitutes

Martin Terrier: 6.5/10

Nordi Mukiele: 6/10

Alex Garcia: 6/10

Arthur: N/A

Manager

Xabi Alonso: 8/10- Alonso got his team absolutely right once again. After a slow start to the season, they now have 5 consecutive wins on the trot. Would be happy with Schick’s goalscoring form as Boniface fights with his injury demons. Would be cursing the winter break as it breaks their momentum.

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Freiburg Player Ratings vs Bayer Leverkusen

Goalkeeper

Noah Atubolu: 6/10- He would be utterly frustrated to have conceded 5 goals even after saving a penalty. Atubolu went the right way to palm Wirtz’s penalty away. But he had no answer as they sent the ball flying past him 5 times.

Defenders

Lukas Kubler: 5/10- The right-back was tasked with marking Wirtz and its safe to say he hasn’t covered himself in glory. He was spun way too easily by Wirtz for his first goal. Deflected Schick’s goalbound effort past his own goalkeeper hence wrongfooting him.

Matthias Ginter: 4/10- The 30-year-old had a game to forget and headed for the tunnel as soon as the game ended. Schick terrorised him throughout the game. He was found missing as Leverkusen opened the scoring and couldn’t win any aerial duel against the striker as he headed home one chance too.

Philipp Lienhart: 5/10- The centre-back made some key interventions but couldn’t compete with Schick as he overperformed.

Christian Gunter: 5/10- The captain couldn’t touch Tella at times as the Nigerian ran rings around him. Easily one of his worst games for his side.

Midfielders

Maximillian Eggestein: 5/10- The senior midfielder was utterly ineffective in helping his side get some sort of control on the pitch. Couldnt conjure his experience to help out defence and track runners with ease.

Patrick Osterhage: 5.5/10- The midfielder couldn’t get to terms with Palacios who enjoyed running past him with ease and pulled strings.

Ritsu Doan: 5.5/10- The ever-energetic Japanese was firing blanks today in the offence and defensively gave a penalty away to Wirtz. Would’ve breathed easy as his keeper bailed him out.

Lucas Holer: 6/10- Tasked with the chance creation, Holer failed to get going as he couldn’t get past Granit Xhaka.

Vincenzo Grifo: 7/10- Rushed onto Gregoritsch’s pass before slotting it past the goalkeeper. Should have had another goal but the post denied him.

Attackers

Michael Gregoritsch: 6.5/10- Was rarely involved in attack and had to feed on the scraps on the break. Did well to assist Grifo but was absolutely swatted aside by the opposition defence in all the duels.

Substitutes

Merlin Rohl: 6.5/10

Kilian Sildillia: 6/10

Max Rosenfelder: 5.5/10

Chukwubuike Adamu: 6/10

Nicolas Hofler: N/A

Manager

Julian Schuster: 5/10- His side were nowhere near their best. They couldn’t contain the hosts in the second half as Schick ran away with the game. After Grifo’s goal, the coach didn’t utilise the momentum to turn the game. Defensive blips completely saw them get wiped off the floor.

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