UEFA Euro 2020: Patrik Schick, Yann Sommer, Emil Forsberg, Jude Bellingham and Steven Zuber the Bundesliga’s standout performers
Patrik Schick is the top scorer, Steven Zuber the top provider, Emil Forsberg has replaced Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Yann Sommer has become a penalty hero and Jude Bellingham is breaking records for the youngest player in a UEFA Euro 2020 that has seen a number of standout Bundesliga performances.
bundesliga.com looks at five Germany-based players who have stood out at this summer’s continental competition…
Age: 25
Club: Bayer Leverkusen
Country: Czech Republic
Without doubt the breakout star of this summer’s European action, Leverkusen striker Schick has done what few thought possible and matched Cristiano Ronaldo in the goal stakes. The pair top the scoring chart with five goals apiece and – although the Portuguese striker leads his Czech counterpart by one assist in the race for the Golden Boot – Schick’s breakdown of numbers shows just how impressive his tournament has been.
Of his five goals, three have been with his left foot, one with his right and one with his head. Traditional heavyweights Robert Lewandowski and Karim Benzema are the only other players in the tournament to have scored in all three ways. Only one of those – in the 1-1 group draw with Croatia – has come from the penalty spot. That’s compared to three for Ronaldo, whose two from open play were scored with his left foot.
On top of that, the Leverkusen frontman will also surely take home the accolade for Goal of the Tournament thanks to his strike from just over the halfway line in the opening group game against Scotland. Measured at 49.7 yards out, it’s the furthest goal scored at the Euros since such records began in 1980.
His brace was also the first by a Czech at the Euros since Milan Baros in 2004. The former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker also got five that year, meaning Schick has equalled his country’s record for goals at the European Championship and will take his place in Czech footballing folklore.
Age: 29
Club: Eintracht Frankfurt
Country: Switzerland
He might not be the name you’ve necessarily heard of or seen in the headlines this summer, but it’s been a historic Euros for Frankfurt’s Zuber. The Switzerland left winger is currently on four assists – one clear of both Luke Shaw and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg – to equal the competition record set by Ljubinko Drulovic in 2000, Karel Poborsky in 2004, and Eden Hazard and Aaron Ramsey in 2016.
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Three of those came in a single outing as he tore apart Turkey in the final game of Group A, twice teeing up former Bayern Munich man Xherdan Shaqiri after he’d earlier set up ex-Frankfurt striker Haris Seferovic. That made the right-footed left winger only the second player to provide a hat-trick of assists in a European Championship game, after former Bayern and Schalke midfielder Hamit Altintop in 2008.
That performance ensured Zuber a place in Vladimir Petkovic’s line-up for the last 16, where he ran France right-back Benjamin Pavard ragged. As well as laying on another goal for Seferovic, he also earned a penalty after the defender took him down inside the box as Die Nati stunned the world champions to progress after a shootout (more on those heroics below).
Age: 29
Club: RB Leipzig
Country: Sweden
After news that Ibrahimovic would miss the Euros through injury (after reversing his retirement decision), people will have looked at the Sweden squad wondering where the goals would come from. Former Borussia Dortmund striker Alexander Isak had an impressive campaign in Spain, but he’s only shown flashes during the tournament. Instead, it was midfielder Forsberg who stepped up for the Scandinavians.
He’d only completed 90 minutes once in 41 appearances for Leipzig during 2020/21, contributing nine goals and five assists from a variety of positions across the front line, including as a false nine under Julian Nagelsmann. But Sweden boss Janne Andersson has used him in his more accustomed left midfield position at the Euros, allowing him to flourish like we’ve seen over five years in the Bundesliga.
“Forsberg’s a bit calmer as a person. He's said himself that he feels more harmonious, and he's been better on the pitch. He's always been good with the national team, and it's great he can be the decisive factor for us,” Andersson said after Forsberg guided his country to top spot in Group E.
The 29-year-old scored four of Sweden’s five goals on their way to the round of 16, is in the top five for attempts on goal across the tournament with 14, while all four shots on target have gone in. He’s the first Swedish player to score four times at a single Euros and also netted in three straight games, equalling Tomas Brolin’s national record at the tournament. His first in the group game against Poland was also the second-fastest ever recorded at the Euros (01:22) – knocking long-time Leipzig teammate Yussuf Poulsen down to third by some 17 seconds.
Age: 32
Club: Borussia Mönchengladbach
Country: Switzerland
While Zuber was creating the goals at one end for Switzerland, Sommer was holding down the fort at the other in a way we’ve become accustomed to seeing in the Bundesliga over the past seven years. The Gladbach shot-stopper has made the most saves at Euro 2020 with 21 across five matches – and that doesn’t include two more in shootouts.
He was the nation’s hero in the last 16 – only days after he’d briefly left the squad to attend the birth of his child – when he saved Kylian Mbappe’s decisive penalty after a thrilling 3-3 draw in which he’d also made five stops. “At some point the moment comes as a goalkeeper when you can do something – and luckily I did that,” the 32-year-old told SRF afterwards.
The moment came again in the quarter-finals when 10-man Switzerland took Spain to another shootout. Sommer had previously saved two Sergio Ramos penalties in one game against La Roja, and again he pulled out his party trick by denying Rodri from 12 yards after he’d repelled nine of Spain’s 10 attempts on target in the preceding 120 minutes.
Although Die Nati ultimately bowed out, their goalkeeper received yet more praise, including from his opposite number. “Honestly, I’d have given it to Sommer,” Unai Simon said on receiving UEFA’s man of the match award.
Age: 18
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Country: England
Everything Bellingham does is a breakthrough. Even though still only 17 during 2020/21, he made 46 appearances for Dortmund following his summer move from Birmingham City. The young English midfielder scored on his debut, at the time becoming the youngest goalscorer in BVB’s history at 17 years, two months and 16 days – beating Nuri Sahin’s previous record by five days.
There were in fact only two games all season when he was in the squad and did not feature. That shows just how prodigious a talent the teenager is and earned him a place in Gareth Southgate’s 26-man squad for the Euros. This wasn’t just a Theo Walcott call-up, though, where an untested teenager goes to a tournament and then just sits on the bench.
“It’s a bit disrespectful maybe at 17 to call him a boy, and he certainly plays like a man,” Southgate had said of Bellingham in the build-up to the tournament – and he’s shown faith and confidence in the BVB ‘man’ by using him in three out of six matches at the finals.
His appearance in the opening group game against Croatia made him the youngest player in Euros history at the time, at 17 years, 11 months and 16 days. Although he only held the record for six days, he would claim another in the quarter-final win over Ukraine as the greenest player to feature in a Euros knockout match, just four days past his 18th birthday. Should the Three Lions go all the way this year and Bellingham get on the pitch again (as expected), he’ll smash the previous record for youngest player in a Euros final (Renato Sanches in 2016) by well over 10 months.
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