After his red card in Stuttgart, Robert Andrich will now probably have to miss the Europa League as well. The defensive midfielder has not been able to train so far this week due to an infection.
Things could really be going better for the newcomer from Union Berlin at the moment. In Leverkusen’s 3:1 win in Stuttgart, the six-pointer first showed a really strong game on matchday 5 and scored his first goal for the Werkself, only to be sent off in the 30th minute after a rude foul.
And since the beginning of the week, Andrich has had to sit out training due to an infection and was therefore also absent on Tuesday during the last training session before the flight to Scotland. So there is a clear tendency that the 27-year-old will not be part of Leverkusen’s travelling party on Wednesday.
It has not yet been officially decided whether Andrich will have to skip the Glasgow trip, which would mean he would lose the opportunity to get match practice despite his three-game suspension in the Bundesliga and also not completely lose his rhythm.
No candidate for the starting line-up
However, even if Andrich were to fly to Scotland with them on Wednesday, he is unlikely to be a candidate for the starting line-up – unlike without the enforced break from training. After all, Gerardo Seoane is unlikely to completely rebuild his centre at Celtic Park.
And that would be necessary in order to let Andrich start after his health-related forced break. Otherwise it would be extremely difficult to convince a player like Nadiem Amiri, who has not been part of Leverkusen’s starting eleven since Matchday 1, that he has to start on the bench despite Andrich’s break from training.
First back in action on 21 October?
And a centre with the weakened Andrich and the out-of-rhythm Amiri would be a risk and would not fit in at all with Seoane’s moderately practised rotation so far.
Andrich’s absence would be particularly bitter, as he would not be able to play in a competitive match again until 21 October at the earliest, when Bayer 04 play Real Betis in the Europa League, after a break of almost five weeks.
