In the 1:0 win in Dortmund, Aleix Garcia showed himself to be fresh again in the truest sense of the word. Bayer 04 are now hoping that the Spanish tactician, who has looked overplayed of late, will once again be a decisive factor in the final spurt.
He was one, if not the decisive factor. The fact that Bayer 04 won in Dortmund and took control of the game, especially after the problematic opening phase, was largely down to Aleix Garcia. After all, the Spaniard ensured that Leverkusen freed themselves from Dortmund’s pressing after 20 minutes following many long balls from their own defense at the beginning and then increasingly took control of the game over long stretches.
Coach Kasper Hjulmand makes no secret of the importance of an in-form Aleix Garcia: “We’ve seen the importance of Aleix all season. He has a great feel for the rhythm of the game and the spaces. He always wants to play out from the back,” explained the Dane after the game.
In this game, Bayer had initially relied on long passes behind Dortmund’s back line. A plan that did not work. “Dortmund pressed very, very high and we had opportunities to play behind the chain, but we didn’t succeed,” said Hjulmand, explaining the opening phase of the game. After that, the runners-up opted for the typical Bayer style. “It was key that Aleix, Pala, Ibo and Grima played more in the center,” said the coach, highlighting the switch to small-scale combination play as crucial, with Aleix Garcia often dropping back into the back three and initiating the build-up precisely and successfully from there.
The international was an important factor in Dortmund and, with his apparent renewed freshness, could become a key figure in the final phase of the season, as managing director Simon Rolfes believes and hopes. “To play good passes, you have to move into good spaces, you have to anticipate them. Then sometimes the pass isn’t always the difficult part, but the orientation and body position are important,“ explains the former six-man, ”and when your legs get tired, you sometimes lack a few percent, which then makes the pass impossible. That’s why freshness helps him, of course, so that he can play good passes.”
The 28-year-old, who was suspended against Wolfsburg last week and did not play for Spain during the international break, has plenty of quality. He played 92 passes in Dortmund, not all of which were simple passes by any means, but a strong 96% of them were completed. Whether it’s a quick, short pass that resolves a tricky situation or a switch on the wing – Aleix Garcia masters both skills with his outstanding technique. “The fact that he is clever and can also play long-range passes,” says Rolfes appreciatively, “that is his quality.”.
This should now come into its own again, as the workload has decreased due to the fact that Leverkusen now usually only have to play every seven days. “You have to say that it was previously a rhythm of one game every three days. And in the six-man position, you also run a bit more from time to time,” says Rolfes as a former defensive midfielder.
After the winter break, Aleix Garcia sagged noticeably from time to time
And since Hjulmand virtually excluded the Spaniard from the rotation, Aleix Garcia was noticeably sidelined in one or two games after the winter break. If his most recent break has been long enough for him to recover sufficiently, the right-footer could become a decisive factor in the crunch time of the season.