Granit Xhaka Admits Weakness in Recent Games

Granit Xhaka, the 32-year-old midfielder, expressed relief after Bayer Leverkusen's fortunate 1:0 win away at Heidenheim last Saturday.

Xhaka played a weak game against coach Frank Schmidt's team, causing some surprise with unusual mistakes.

The Nati star had already failed to make his mark on the game in last week's surprising cup exit in Bielefeld.

Granit Xhaka told Kicker, "Today and in Bielefeld, they weren't the games I expect from myself."

He was actually quite happy with himself against Frankfurt and Stuttgart, said the 135-time international.

"It's normal to have a bad game every now and then," Xhaka summed up, adding: "I'm only human."

Bayer Leverkusen has now managed to turn things around, even if they still hit too many long balls for Xhaka's liking instead of trying to find the way to success with combination football.

Under the Spanish star coach Xabi Alonso, Xhaka is also guaranteed a regular place this season.

In the 28 Bundesliga games he has played so far, he has always been in the starting eleven, and the veteran has only missed 67 minutes in the championship.

Despite sometimes heavy legs or mental fatigue, it is "very important for the new father of three - daughter Neyana was born in mid-March - to be there to help the team when things are perhaps not going so well," says Xhaka.

The Basel player emphasizes: "I'm the first to criticize myself."

Xhaka led the previously notoriously unsuccessful Rhinelanders to a superior double win in his debut season.

He also put in a strong performance with the national team at the European Championships, although the Swiss number 10 even played the quarter-final against England with a torn muscle fiber.

After the tournament, the footballers only had a short summer break.

No wonder Xhaka & Co. didn't really get up to speed at the start of the season.

Instead of overrunning their opponents with power football as they had the previous year, Bayer suffered many unnecessary setbacks in the fall.