How does Xabi Alonso's one-man team function without its one man?

Bayer Leverkusen will be forced to challenge Bayern Munich in the Champions League without Florian Wirtz. So how do the BayArena side overcome this monumental task?

Simon Rolfes put on a brave face and tackled the predictable questions with all the poise and consistency of a seasoned politician. Bayer Leverkusen had just lost 2-0 to Werder Bremen, but that wasn’t even the worst thing to happen to the club on Saturday: Florian Wirtz had picked up a nasty injury in the game and had been ruled out for several weeks. The club’s star player would miss the all-important Champions League second leg against Bayern Munich on Tuesday and be out of action until April.

"Florian's absence is obviously a blow to us at this stage of the season, but we will compensate for him with a strong team," said Rolfes after a match in which his team had done anything but compensate for the absence of their boy wonder. "We know Florian and know that he will come back as soon as possible. Everyone will support him. We assume that he will be in top shape again for the final stretch of the season." His colleague, Xabi Alonso, was slightly more blunt but altogether far more truthful after Saturday’s debacle, simply referring to Saturday as “a shitty day for us”.

Indeed, Leverkusen without Wirtz are in no uncertain terms a one-man team without their one man. As I noted in last week’s timely newsletter on Jamal Musiala’s struggles at Bayern, Leverkusen have stood in stark contrast to their Munich rivals for much of the last two seasons as a team built to do one thing: get the very best out of Wirtz. If the BayArena club were Tony Stark’s Iron Man suit, Wirtz would be the shining arc reactor at the heart of it. And without the beating pulse of Alonso’s coveted playmaker, Leverkusen are now in uncharted waters ahead of the biggest test of their season.