Bundesliga
At 5:37 p.m.: Bayer captain Hradecky receives the championship trophy
Leverkusen’s goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky (M) lifts the championship trophy. photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
Bayer Leverkusen had to wait a long time for this, and the road was paved with bitter disappointments. But on Saturday the Werkself were presented with the trophy as German football champions for the first time.
At 5:37 p.m. the bowl arrived in Leverkusen after decades of waiting: Bayer received Leverkusen’s captain at this time Lukas Hradecky receives the trophy from the hands of DFL managing director Marc Lenz for winning the first German football championship. Lenz’s colleague Steffen Merkel had previously hung the championship medals. And this championship was a historic one, as Leverkusen is the first team in Bundesliga history to complete the entire season without a single defeat.
After the final whistle in the final 2-1 win against FC Augsburg, the Leverkusen pitch was transformed into a party zone. The Bayer professionals jumped around on the pitch to “Looking For Freedom” by David Hasselhoff. Master maker Xabi Alonso received the biggest special cheer when he walked onto the podium.
Seven minutes after receiving it himself, Hradecky presented the championship trophy to the fans in the north curve, where it initially disappeared into the hustle and bustle. Hradecky went into the curve behind and was handed the bowl back. Alonso was also called into the corner and had two fans pull him up the fence to join the cheering crowd.
The Leverkusen team had developed a real master trauma at the beginning of the millennium. In 2000 and 2002 they lost what they thought were certain titles in the season finale and were nicknamed “Vizekusen”. It has now been stripped off. “History owes Bayer another bowl,” said club boss Fernando Carro. In the finals of the Europa League on Wednesday in Dublin against Atalanta Bergamo and in the DFB Cup next Saturday against second division team 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Bayer can crown the season with a treble.