Germany starlet Wirtz out 'for months' with torn knee ligaments
NYSE - LSE
| CMSD | -0.49% | 23.753 | $ | |
| JRI | -0.15% | 13.25 | $ | |
| SCS | 0.45% | 15.73 | $ | |
| NGG | -1.89% | 76.09 | $ | |
| RBGPF | 2.47% | 79.04 | $ | |
| BCC | 1.71% | 67.22 | $ | |
| GSK | -2.22% | 46.34 | $ | |
| CMSC | 0.34% | 23.67 | $ | |
| RYCEF | -1.23% | 13.79 | $ | |
| BCE | -1.01% | 22.79 | $ | |
| RELX | -1.18% | 39.8 | $ | |
| RIO | -0.45% | 69.43 | $ | |
| AZN | -0.63% | 88.99 | $ | |
| VOD | -2% | 12.01 | $ | |
| BTI | -0.22% | 54.74 | $ | |
| BP | -2.06% | 35.95 | $ |
Germany starlet Wirtz out 'for months' with torn knee ligaments
Florian Wirtz will be sidelined for "several months" after the teenage Germany midfielder suffered a serious knee injury Sunday as Bayer Leverkusen lost 1-0 at home to Cologne in the Rhine derby.
Wirtz, 18, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a first-half challenge and was stretchered off in clear distress.
The attacking midfielder "will therefore be out for several months", Leverkusen said in a statement after giving the diagnosis.
He will miss Germany's friendlies against Israel and the Netherlands later this month and faces a race against time to be fit for the World Cup in Qatar which kicks off in November.
Wirtz's injury capped a bad day for Leverkusen as Cologne's Kingsley Schindler came off the bench to volley in a superb second-half winner for his first Bundesliga goal.
The loss of Wirtz is a serious blow to Leverkusen with their top-scoring Czech striker Patrik Schick already sidelined by a torn calf.
Leverkusen are third in Germany's top flight, 15 points behind league leaders Bayern Munich who were held to a 1-1 draw at Hoffenheim on Saturday.
This is Leverkusen's second straight defeat after losing to Atalanta in their Europa League last 16, first-leg tie on Thursday.
Cologne are seventh in the table as Steffen Baumgart's visitors out-thought and out-muscled Leverkusen.
The hosts lost three players in the first half of a bruising derby.
Leverkusen's Dutch defender Jeremie Frimpong had to be helped off with a leg injury after a crunching tackle before Wirtz left on a stretcher.
Leverkusen centre-back Odilon Kossounou also went off injured just before half-time.
E.Janssens--JdB
