Patrik Schick or Victor Boniface? Bayer Leverkusen's super centre-forward dilemma
The champions' coach Xabi Alonso has two of the best strikers in the Bundesliga at his disposal, but which one should be first pick up front? bundesliga.com tries to ease their boss's selection headache - after they both starred in a dramatic DFB Cup comeback win against Cologne.
Goalscoring
The pair are strikers both big in name and stature. Both measure 6'3" - Schick is slightly taller, if you must know - and they both have insanely prolific records for Leverkusen. Schick celebrated his 150th competitive appearance for Die Werkself with his 72nd goal in the victory over Hoffenheim on Matchday 20. That's a hugely impressive record of almost a goal every other game across all competitions. He has netted 57 times in the Bundesliga in 6793 minutes since arriving from Roma directly on the back of a 2019/20 season-long loan at RB Leipzig. That is an average of one league goal every 119 minutes on the pitch.
It's good. It's even very good. But it's not quite Boniface good.
Watch: Boniface and Schick score vs. Hoffenheim
He made a surprise return to the starting XI on Matchday 20 after three months on the sidelines to bring up his half-century of games for the club he joined from Union St Gilloise in 2023. The Nigeria international scored the opening goal against Hoffenheim, taking him to 30 goals in 50 competitive outings for Leverkusen. It was his 21st Bundesliga goal in 2263 minutes of play - an average of a goal every 107 minutes.
Form
Boniface's long injury lay-off has something to do with this - it's tough to play well when you are welded to the treatment table, after all - but Schick seized his chance with extraordinary relish when his fellow forward was sidelined with a hamstring injury in mid-November.
Watch: Schick hits four vs Freiburg
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"What should I say? Four goals. I must congratulate Patrik. Not only for the goals, but also his work off the ball, his counter-pressing. He helps the team," said Alonso after seeing his forward net all but one of Leverkusen's strikes in the 5-1 win over Freiburg on Matchday 15.
It was a goal glut that was in keeping with Schick's stunning displays after becoming Alonso's frontline frontman. He has struck every 59 minutes for his 14 goals - that's 30 minutes fewer per goal than Bonfiace took to net his seven this term. Bear in mind that Boniface is averaging a goal a game, and you can see just how ruthless Schick has been.
It is even more stark when you consider Schick has found the net 14 times from 37 shots; Boniface's tally is from 42. It means he has needed six shots to score once, Schick fewer than three.
Teamwork
As Alonso pointed out, Schick does always put in quite a shift. He has averaged 11.7km (7.3 miles) per 90 minutes across his 17 Bundesliga appearances this season, significantly more than the 9.5km (5.9 miles) Bonfiace has covered in each of his 11 games.
Though Boniface tallies more sprints on average - 21 to 19 - Schick has clocked the higher speed at 33.31km/h (20.69 mph) compared to his teammate's 32.2 km/h (20 mph). Boniface does like to mix it with defenders more than Schick, however, and comes out on top 48 percent of the time in duels compared Schick's 43 percent.
Schick links up better as he completes more passes (82 percent to 76), but Boniface has registered seven passes before a shot to Schick's six, despite having made six fewer appearances and played 114 fewer minutes.
Though now second-choice, Boniface would have been a major loss if he had departed the club as it was reported he would in the January transfer window. No wonder Alonso said, "I'm satisfied, I'm happy," when telling German media his forward would be staying put. Even if it means he now has a tough decision to make…
Attitude
"I don't think it will be a big stress for him," Alonso explained regarding the well-documented potential move Boniface was considering to Saudi Arabia. "He'll switch back in his head and accept the idea that he's staying here. He'll see his situation positively and fight for his position in the team."
Boniface's immediate response on Matchday 20 suggests his coach is right, and the player himself reinforced that impression, saying, "My focus is 100 per cent on Bayer Leverkusen."
Lukáš Hrádecký did raise the prospect of the off-the-field turbulence affecting his teammate “From a player’s perspective, it’s legitimate to think about it," said the Leverkusen goalkeeper, noting the deal could have been financially beneficial to Boniface, who turned 24 in December. "But he's at one of the best clubs in Europe, it's not a bad place here. That’s why he can be happy.”
What about Schick, who also found himself in the centre of the story albeit for different reasons. Is he happy? "For me, it doesn't change much," said the former Sparta Prague youth prospect with the experience of a grizzled 29-year-old. "I am doing the same things as I have been recently. If Victor is here or not, my focus remains the same."
Fitness
Given Boniface has been out for so long and must be short of match fitness and sharpness, Alonso has - at least for a short time - the possibility of doing what he did against Hoffenheim: start one, and then bring on the other at half-time. How long either player will accept that situation remains to be seen, but both men will be aware that misfortune could well strike either of them. Or if Alonso is really unlucky as he was last season, both at the same time.
Watch: Patrik Schick, Leverkusen's unsung hero
Boniface was able to establish himself as Alonso's first-choice centre-forward in the 2023/24 title-winning season due to Schick's long-term adductor injury that led to the Czechia international being sidelined between March and October 2023. He was back in the treatment room shortly after for another month with a calf problem as he was limited to just 12 starts in his 20 league appearances.
Boniface featured in just three more games than Schick in 2023/24 though, as he was sidelined between Matchdays 17 and 27 due to an adductor problem. It is also worth considering he suffered two ACL ruptures early in his career while playing in Norway, notably at Bodø/Glimt, the physical and mental toll of which may account for his chequered injury record at Leverkusen. As Hrádecký pointed out, "He's had a lot of injuries". History suggests one or the other could - and history suggests probably will - soon find themselves on the sidelines, which would make the coach's mind up for him regarding who to pick.
A dynamic duo?
With both firing on all cylinders, how about changing your tactics to play them up front together, Xabi? "That's a possibility in the future," replied the Leverkusen coach to just that question. "The important thing for me is that we have good players. Then we can decide whether we play with one, two or three forwards."
Their stats in terms of team play suggest they have enough of a selfless streak to work as a pair, and Boniface and Schick have actually already played together for Leverkusen to good effect. It was only once, but it was successful: they scored the opening two goals - Schick getting the first - in the 5-0 win over Bochum on Matchday 33 last season, both coming off the pitch when they were replaced with 21 minutes to go.
Could we see that experiment repeated soon then? Maybe not; "I don't think we play like that," said Schick, who started on his own in the midweek DFB Cup derby against Cologne. Events in that tie forced a change in thinking, however. After Cologne had taken a shock 2-0 lead and Schick had pulled a goal back, Boniface was brought on as an extra front man in the 76th minute. A last-gasp Schick stoppage-time equaliser forced extra-time before the Nigerian sealed a dramatic comeback win in the additional 30 minutes.
The disappointment etched on the faces of Leverkusen's beaten Bundesliga 2 local rivals was a stark reminder that in whatever shape or form they play - Schick and Boniface are a simply brilliant pair of strikers the champions are delighted to have at their disposal as they bid over the coming months to reclaim the title and DFB Cup.
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