Florian Wirtz suffered an ankle injury on March 8 but could return for Bayer Leverkusen earlier than expected. Speaking in Thursday’s press conference, Xabi Alonso hinted that they would be prepared to take a risk on the German’s fitness with the possibility of retaining their Bundesliga title still alive.

“I’ve spoken to Flo, he’s feeling better,” said Alonso. “Maybe he’ll be back sooner than expected.” Wirtz left the BayArena on crutches during Bayer’s 2-0 defeat against Werder Bremen and reports initially suggested that 21-year-old would be sidelined for their DFB Pokal semi-final against Arminia Bielefeld on April 1.

“We don’t want to be conservative with Flo,” added Alonso. “We want to go full throttle, take a bit of a risk.” Had Leverkusen not be in the Bundesliga title race, Wirtz’ chances of playing in the Bundesliga would have been lower, “If it were only about the cup final on May 24, it would be foolish to take a risk with Wirtz in April,” said the Spaniard.

Bayer Leverkusen host Bochum on Friday night and a win would close the gap to Bayern Munich – who play on Saturday – to three points. A trip to Bielefeld in the DFB Pokal is then followed up by league games against Heidenheim, Union Berlin, St. Pauli and Augsburg. Should Bayer take 12 points from 12 and Bayern drop points with both Dayot Upamecano and Alphonso Davies sidelined, then we could well be in for an exciting Bundesliga title race as we enter the latter stages.