Patrik Schick (born 24 January 1996) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Czech Republic national team.
Born in Prague, Schick began his career with local club Sparta Prague, rising through their youth ranks, before making his senior debut as a teenager. In 2016, at the age of 20, he earned a move to Sampdoria in Italy after an impressive spell with Bohemians 1905. After an impressive debut season in Italy, he moved to Roma in 2017 for a reported club-record fee. In 2019, Schick moved to Germany to join RB Leipzig on a season-long loan before moving to Bayer Leverkusen on a permanent basis in September 2020, winning the Bundesliga title in 2024, and the DFB Pokal in the same season.
Formerly an international at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19, and under-21 levels, Schick made his debut for the Czech Republic in May 2016 at the age of 20. He has made over 30 caps for his national team and helped them reach the quarter-finals of the European Championship in 2020, where he won both the Goal of the Tournament and the Silver Boot awards as the joint-highest goalscorer of the tournament.
Schick was called up to the Czech Republic senior side for the first time at their pre-UEFA Euro 2016 training camp. He debuted in a friendly match against Malta on 27 May 2016, resulting in a 6–0 victory.
On 25 May 2021, Schick was included in the Czech Republic's final 26-man squad for the postponed UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. In the first group stage match against Scotland on 14 June at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Schick scored both goals as the Czech Republic won 2–0. The second strike from the halfway line was the longest-recorded goal at the Euros since 1980 at 45 metres (49 yd). The goal was later voted as the "goal of the tournament",and was nominated for the FIFA Puskas Award. He became the first Czech player since Tomas Rosicky at the 2006 FIFA World Cup to score a brace at a major tournament and the first since Milan Baros in 2004 to do so at the European Championships.
Against Croatia on 18 June, Schick scored from a penalty to help his side earn a 1–1 draw. On 27 June, he scored his fourth goal of the tournament in the Czech Republic's impressive victory over the Netherlands in the round of 16. On 3 July, he scored in a 2–1 controversial defeat against Denmark in the quarter-finals, to equal Milan Baros' record of five goals for the Czech Republic in a European Championship tournament. Alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, he was the UEFA Euro 2020 joint top scorer with five goals, with the higher of number of goals scored from an open play.
Although Schick mostly plays in a central role as a main striker, due to his eye for goal, heading accuracy, and striking ability with his left foot; he is also capable of playing as a second striker or as a right winger. He can utilise his physique to hold up the ball with his back to goal, but is also a quick, elegant, and agile player, who possesses good technique and dribbling skills, as well as good link-up play, which enables him to play the ball first time, participate in the build-up of attacking plays and provide assists. One of the more main aspects of Schick is his signature celebration, every time he scores a goal, he flexes his muscles in front of the fans. |
