{"id":811200,"date":"2024-12-09T20:56:02","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T02:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/09\/alonso-hopeful-for-schick-return-in-champions-league\/"},"modified":"2024-12-09T20:56:02","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T02:56:02","slug":"alonso-hopeful-for-schick-return-in-champions-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/09\/alonso-hopeful-for-schick-return-in-champions-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Alonso hopeful for Schick return in Champions League"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

\n

<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Xabi Alonso says Bayer Leverkusen could have key striker Patrik Schick back for their Champions League clash against Inter.<\/p>\n

The Czech had scored five goals in three consecutive league games, including a hat-trick against Heidenheim, before missing Saturday\u2019s 2-1 win over St. Pauli through injury.<\/p>\n

Schick also netted in their 5-0 win over Salzburg last time out in the Champions League, having been in impressive form in the absence of Victor Boniface, who is also injured.<\/p>\n

Leverkusen are aiming to become the first team to score against Inter in the competition this season, with Alonso hopeful he will have his striker back for the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cPatrik is getting closer and [on Tuesday] morning we are training again,\u201d Alonso told a press conference. \u201cWe have to assess the situation day by day. But he is feeling better, and we are not ruling him out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to play each game to win, even tomorrow against a top side. That is our main focus. Our goal is to qualify for the first eight and to do our best in each competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Patrik\u2019s back! pic.twitter.com\/UJaMrdP7Ee<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) December 9, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The reigning German champions are in sixth place in the Champions League table on 10 points and are on track to qualify automatically for the last 16, but they will need all the firepower they can get against the Italians.<\/p>\n

Inter are in second place on 13 having won four and drawn one of their five matches. Simone Inzaghi\u2019s side have conceded the lowest-quality chances in the tournament this term, when factoring in the average expected goals (xG) of each shot a team has faced (0.07).<\/p>\n

However, Leverkusen have won seven of their last eight home games in European competition (D1), all since the start of last season. They have outscored their opponents by 21 goals across these eight matches (27 scored, six conceded), while having 138 more shots than they have conceded in the process (206 for, 68 against).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are facing one of the best teams in Europe. But for us, we want to see where we are, and we play at home,\u201d Alonso added.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreat expectations from our side and hopefully we will be ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a winning team. [Inter\u2019s zero conceded goals] says that it is a team that has this consistency for the last years in the Champions League,\u201d Alonso said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are very strong, a very solid squad and with a very clear idea of what they want. They play with a lot of maturity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>SoccerNews<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Xabi Alonso says Bayer Leverkusen could have key striker Patrik Schick back for their Champions League clash against Inter. The Czech had scored five goals in three consecutive league games, including a hat-trick against Heidenheim, before missing Saturday\u2019s 2-1 win over St. Pauli through injury. Schick also netted in their 5-0 win over Salzburg […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":811201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34587,4946,2005],"tags":[11165,107267],"class_list":{"0":"post-811200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-alonso","8":"category-hopeful","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-alonso","11":"tag-hopeful"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=811200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/811200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/811201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=811200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=811200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=811200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}