Xabi Alonso planned to rest his best players last weekend to prepare them for the second leg against Bayern in the Champions League Round of 16, but things didn’t go as expected.Werder was leading at halftime in Leverkusen, forcing the Spaniard to react by bringing on Florian Wirtz. However, less than 15 minutes later, Wirtz suffered an injury and had to leave the pitch. Later, journalists saw him leaving the stadium on crutches.BREAKING: It is feared that Florian Wirtz has suffered a ligament or syndesmosis injury. Fernando Carro: “We’re expecting the worst, but we’re hoping for the best.”The worst case scenario would be a syndesmosis injury, which would result in a long-term absence depending on… pic.twitter.com/5Ctg3qu96j— WerkselfXtra (@bayer04Xtra) March 8, 2025 There was a lot of speculation about the severity of the injury, with fears of another long-term absence like in 2022 when he was out for over 250 days. However, Bayer clarified the situation this morning: Wirtz will be sidelined for several weeks.OFFICIAL: Florian Wirtz will be out for several weeks with an ankle injury. pic.twitter.com/BBbFlMcjwd— WerkselfXtra (@bayer04Xtra) March 10, 2025 Looking ahead, this is somewhat positive news for Leverkusen. However, it seems likely that the young playmaker is lost for the rest of the season. Despite the club doctor’s confidence in Wirtz’s physical and mental strength, hinting at a possible return for the season’s final stretch, Xabi Alonso will have to do without his best player for the crucial second leg against Bayern and the DFB-Pokal semifinal against Arminia Bielefeld.Regarding international duty, Wirtz is certain to miss both Nations League clashes against Italy.##NAJAVA_MECA_8763428##
