BFW with Bayer Leverkusen: Patrik Schick discusses his recovery and successes

Bavarian Football Works staffer Jack Laushway is attending Bayer Leverkusen’s training camp in Austria and will be interviewing several key players of the squad during this week. Leverkusen are shaping up to one of the most exciting teams in the upcoming Bundesliga season and Patrik Schick was one of the players who spoke with BFW during the week.

Patrik Schick was one of Europe’s top scorers in the 2021/22 season after a brilliant performance in Euro 2020, collecting the shared Golden Boot with 5 goals for Czechia (including a Puskas finalist). He scored a second best 24 goals for Bayer Leverkusen in that season only behind the very own Robert Lewandowski. In fact, he had a better goals + assists rate per 90min than the Polish striker.

Unfortunately, last season didn’t go quite the same for the Czech striker. He was sidelined with an injury during the critical conclusion of the season. So how tough stay mentally was this recovery process?

“It was hard, because when it happened I didn’t think it would take so long. In the end, I had to accept the injury wasn’t getting better and we tried a lot of different things, but unfortunately nothing worked well. We came to a point where we decided I had to undergo the injury. I just have to be patient and everything will be fine, so I’m very optimistic.”

Bayer Leverkusen has brought in some class talent this summer with names like Granit Xhaka, Grimaldo, and Jonas Hofmann. How excited are you to get back out there with the guys?

“The season didn’t start well last season, but the guys really saved the season and qualified for Europa League. I’m really looking forward to playing with the team next season,”

Czechia has had a strong qualifying stage so far for Euro 2024. How exciting is the possibility of returning after such a strong tournament for the team in 2021?

“The guys in the national team are doing a great job in the qualifiers, so we are in a good position. We should qualify for the Euro, but we still have some important games ahead of us. The Euro is always special and the last was really good for us and me, so I’m really hoping I will be there.”

It never really lined up for Florian Wirtz and Patrik Schick who both missed significant matches last season, but the football world will be excited to see the deadly partnership return in the 2022/23 season.