Ball boy in focus: Leverkusen’s first goal steers discussions

Patrik Schick’s first goal against his former club has sparked discussion about the role of ball boys.

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Patrik Schick, who was celebrated by Bayer Leverkusen fans ahead of the game for reaching 100 goals with the club, scored a hat-trick against his old side RB Leipzig on Saturday. The Czech international produced three brilliant finishes, but it was the first one that was the subject of investigation by Kicker after the game.

The reason was how the move started. After Nicolas Seiwald’s off-target attempt, Leverkusen’s ball boy quickly reacted to throw the ball to Mark Flekken. The goalkeeper followed suit as his quick long ball presented a great opportunity for Nathan Tella, Ibrahima Maza, and the goal scorer.

As Kicker noted, the whole thing would’ve been no issue if it were last season. However, in mid-August, the DFL approached the 36 German professional clubs of Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga regarding ball boys. The recommendation mentioned that the ball boys should no longer throw the ball to the players, but put it on a marking plate.

According to the DFL, they brought forward this decision “to promote Bundesliga by the faster resumption of the game and combat the reduction of playing time". RB Leipzig issued their disapproval of the goal in post-match interviews by Marcel Schäfer and Ole Werner.

"There is now a clear rule not to make this difference in the stadiums," complained Leipzig’s coach to Sky after the game. “If we have the rule, we also need a clear implementation."

However, Kicker recall there is no mandatory rule for the clubs set by the DFL. According to the popular publication, the DFL will only recommend the concept and leave the implementation to the clubs.

Although he raised his disappointment, Werner didn’t want to have it as an excuse for the 4-1 defeat. “I’m not accusing anyone. In fact, I’m having a hard time talking about this one scene.” concluded the 37-year-old coach.

Christoph Baumgartner added that it wasn’t the decisive factor of the game. "This is not the decisive issue today. I don't want to be upset about this little thing. Otherwise, we'd be bad losers.”

As for Leverkusen, Maza admitted he had no idea about DFL’s recommendation. "I didn't know, but it's great. We did see this in other leagues," noted the Algerian attacker. Kasper Hjulmand also ruled out any specific advice given to the ball boys by Leverkusen, instead crediting the goal to his goalkeeper. 

“We need a goalkeeper who plays a lot of long passes. That’s why Mark (Flekken) is an outstanding goalkeeper.”