Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick is fit for Wednesday’s German Cup second round clash against second division side Paderborn, but it’s unclear whether he will be in the starting line-up.
Schick made a brief appearance last Sunday in the 2-0 Bundesliga win against Freiburg after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Advertisement
“Patrik worked very hard on his comeback. And he has also taken further steps in the last few days,” coach Kasper Hjulmand said in a news conference on Tuesday.
“I’m not going to publicly reveal who will or won’t play the day before the game. We have very good options up front,” he added.
Hjulmand also didn’t say who will play between the posts against Paderborn.
“Mark (Flekken) is our clear number one, he has our full confidence. But the same definitely applies to Janis (Blaswich) and Lombo (Niklas Lomb). They’re all working incredibly well. You’ll see who plays tomorrow in Paderborn,” he said.
Advertisement
Leverkusen won the Cup in 2023-24 in the unbeaten season that also included their maiden Bundesliga title under coach Xabi Alonso.
Last season, they were stunned in the semi-finals with a defeat to then third-divison side Arminia Bielefeld.
“We have respect for the competition and the opposition, but at the same time we’re fully focused on progressing,” Hjulmand said.
