Granit Xhaka and Yann Sommer battled for points side by side 205 times. Today will be a premiere: the two will face each other for the first time ever in a competitive match.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Granit Xhaka will face Yann Sommer's Inter Milan on Tuesday in the Champions League with Bayer Leverkusen.
- A first: so far the two have only played together, but never against each other.
- Granit Xhaka has never played more games with any other professional than with Yann Sommer. The reverse is not quite true: Sommer has been on the pitch with five other professionals more often than with Xhaka.
- blue Sport shows all Champions League matches live.
Bayer Leverkusen will host Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday (21:00 live on blue Sport). It is the thrilling duel of the 6th round, as both teams are among the top 8 teams after five of eight group games and would therefore qualify directly for the round of 16.
As a reminder, the teams between 9th and 24th place have to go through to the knockout play-offs, with the winners of the respective matches (first and second leg) also qualifying for the round of 16. The teams between 25th and 36th place are eliminated from European competition.
Leverkusen v Inter is also Xhaka v Sommer
The clash between Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan will also feature two Swiss players who are mainstays of their respective teams. Xhaka pulls the strings in midfield for the reigning German champions, while Sommer is in goal for Inter. The latter has done his job to perfection so far, not having to fish the ball out of the goal once in the first five games. Inter only conceded points on matchday 1 when they drew away to Manchester City.
It is also crazy that Granit Xhaka (32) and Yann Sommer (35) have never faced each other in a competitive match before. But they have already fought side by side 205 times: at FC Basel (41 - 1 of them in the U21s) Borussia Mönchengladbach (76) and of course the national team (88 - 5 of them in the U21s).
They first played together as professionals on August 21, 2010 in the FC Basel kit. Shortly afterwards, they played in the U21 national team, with whom they reached the European Championship final later that year, losing 2-0 to Spain. Last summer, they reached the quarter-finals of the European Championship with the senior team, which was possibly their last match as teammates, as Sommer retired from the national team after the Euros.
The two will certainly be looking forward to their reunion on Tuesday, although they are certainly not willing to hand out gifts. Well, maybe they'll swap shirts after the game. And if you look at the results of the two teams so far, you could well imagine that both will leave the stadium with a point in their luggage.
Incidentally, the fact that Granit Xhaka has played 205 games together more often than any other footballer than Yann Sommer shows that this is a real house number. The reverse is not quite true. Sommer played the most games alongside Nico Elvedi (274), followed by Lars Sindl, Patrick Herrmann (both 235), Oscar Wendt (233), Christoph Kramer (207) and only in sixth place is Granit Xhaka (205).
The Bayer Leverkusen fixture list
- Feyenoord - Leverkusen 0:4
- Leverkusen - AC Milan 1:0
- Stade Brest - Leverkusen 1:1
- Liverpool - Leverkusen 4:0
- Leverkusen - RB Salzburg 5:0
- Leverkusen - Inter Milan (December 10)
- Atlético Madrid - Leverkusen (January 21, 2025)
- Leverkusen - Sparta Prague (January 29, 2025)
The Inter Milan fixture list
- Manchester City - Inter 0:0
- Inter - Red Star 4:0
- YB - Inter 0:1
- Inter - Arsenal 1:0
- Inter - RB Leipzig 1:0
- Leverkusen - Inter (December 10)
- Sparta Prague - Inter (January 22, 2025)
- Inter - Monaco (January 29, 2025)
