Bayer Leverkusen broke a knot that had stuck with it for many years, during which it finished 5 times runner-up in the German Football League, winning its first title, removing the title “Wittjekusen”, meaning second place.
With only two major titles in its history, the European Union Cup (now Europa League) in 1988 and the German Cup in 1993, some began to wonder if the club was haunted by the curse of second place.
But his Spanish coach Xabi Alonso, who led the club to the league title in his first full season with the team, had other ideas, with a historic treble still on the horizon for the team, who are still unbeaten in all competitions. .
Bayer Pharmaceuticals
The club was born in 1904 after employees Wilhelm Hauschildt and August Kuhlmann wrote a letter requesting the establishment of a club affiliated with the medical company specializing in pharmaceuticals founded by Friedrich Bayer in 1863, which obtained the signatures of 170 Bayer workers.
After receiving the green light from the board of directors, the “Daz 04” club was born on July 1, 1904, and the football team played its first official match 3 years later.
With Bayer AG fully owning Bayer Leverkusen 04 football club, the ties between the club and the company remained strong.
In the middle is the bayer cross, the logo of the club, which is known as “De Vergeselve”, meaning “factory team”, because many of its players worked for the company until 1970.
Opened in 1958, the current Leverkusen stadium was initially called the “Ulrich-Haberland Stadion” in honor of Bayer's then president, before being renamed the “BayerArena” in 1998.
Palak symbol
Before joining Bayern Munich in the summer of 2002 and then captaining the German national team in the summer of 2004, Michael Ballack reached the peak of his career with Bayer Leverkusen, joining from Kaiserslautern in 1999, after they won the championship. Local league in 1998.
Apart from Ballack, there are also big German names like Ulf Kirsten, Christian Forens and Rudi Wöller, who went through Leverkusen, 20 kilometers from Cologne.
For players who play in European leagues and have previously worn the red and black shirt, they:
- Guy Howards (Arsenal, England).
- Toni Cruz (Real Madrid, Spain).
- Bernd Leno (Fulham, England).
Brazilians Jorginho (World Champion 1994), Lucio (World Champion 2002) and Ze Roberto also started their European careers at this club.
Rudy Fowler, on the other hand, joined Leverkusen after playing for Roma in Italy and Marseille in France, becoming their sporting director on July 1, 1996, soon after he retired as a player.
“At least nobody says 'Witzkusen' anymore… it's something that's bothered me for years,” Fuller said Thursday.
He continued, “With some titles won, this could be the start of an era. Xabi Alonso will be the coach. We will try to keep most of our players and we will participate in the Champions League.”
In turn, Alonso said, “I heard about Neverkusen (not once about Leverkusen) and Witschkusen, and I am proud to break this knot.”
“Wiedschkuchen”
Leverkusen was not one of the 16 founding clubs of the Bundesliga in the summer of 1963. After a brief stint in the third division, it rose to the ranks of the elite clubs in 1979 and hasn't fallen since.
Between 1996 and 2002, he was under the tutelage of controversial coach Christophe Daum, placing himself in the top four in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002, finishing as runner-up 4 times.
He came close to winning the title twice:
First in 2000
Leverkusen needed a point at home against newly-promoted Unterhaching in the southern suburbs of Munich in the final stages of the season.
Ballack made a mistake in his team's goal en route to losing the game 0–2, thus defeating Werder Bremen and depriving Bayern Munich of the title. Since then, Leverkusen has been known as “Witzkusen”.
The second was in 2002
Leverkusen started May and still compete in 3 matches:
- In the German league, Borussia Dortmund won the title with 5-point lead with 3 stages remaining.
- A week later, Leverkusen lost in the German Cup final.
- Four days later, the team lost the Champions League final to Spain's Real Madrid 1–2 thanks to a shot from former French star Zinedine Zidane.
- In July 2002, 5 Leverkusen players (Ballock, Hans-Joerg Pott, Karsten Ramelov, Bernd Schneider and Olivier Neuville) played in the 2-0 World Cup final defeat against Brazil.
