Winning the double, reaching the Europa League final and breaking numerous records – it was a dream season for Bayer Leverkusen. And Bayer doesn’t want to remain a flash in the pan.
When they finally started the party marathon they had been looking forward to for weeks after winning the double, the bosses and players of Bayer Leverkusen were already thinking about the next season. Now that the 31-year-old title curse and the “Vizekusen” taunt have been banished, the Werkself want to position themselves permanently as a top team and rival of FC Bayern Munich.
“We have destroyed the image that Bayer was always said to have,” said sporting director Simon Rolfes, who played for Leverkusen without a title from 2005 to 2015. Now it is time to consolidate the new external image. “I didn’t come here just to win titles for one year,” said final goalscorer Granit Xhaka after the 1-0 DFB Cup final victory against second division club 1. FC Kaiserslautern. And he was fully aware of this on the way to the big cup party in the “Club Theater Berlin” with around 1,000 invited guests. Coach Xabi Alonso explained: “I want to continue down this path and prepare something new from Monday.”
Stand up to Bayern
First of all, there was a big celebration. After a short night, which some players ended in Berlin clubs, the team arrived at Cologne/Bonn Airport at 2 p.m., around an hour late. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst greeted the team on the tarmac. Captain Lukas Hradecky had the DFB Cup in his arms, but admitted that he “didn’t know where it had spent the night. I’m looking after it today.” After the entry in the Golden Book of the city of 160,000 inhabitants, a motorcade took them to a final celebration with 40,000 fans in the stadium. The tickets for this quickly sold out.
Meanwhile, the motto exemplified by club boss Fernando Carro of formulating goals boldly in public has taken hold of the entire club after this historic season. “We are very happy, but it doesn’t stop here,” said Carro: “We have to try to stay at this level. And that’s what we will do.” Of course, serial champions FC Bayern Munich, who impressively ousted them after eleven years, are “historically the strongest team in Germany. But we definitely want to be able to at least stand up to them.”
And then the Spaniard even explicitly formulated the upcoming goals. “The goal is always to be at the top,” he said. “The goal is to at least be at the top of the Bundesliga, to get as far as possible in the cup and to show in the Champions League that Bayer Leverkusen is at a top level.”
Xhaka wants to “attack in the Champions League”
Xhaka went a step further. “Let’s attack in the Champions League next year,” he said with a mischievous smile, deliberately leaving open how far this attack would go. Xhaka’s message to the domestic competition, on the other hand, was clear. “We will do everything we can to defend our titles,” he said. “We want to continue the same way next year. We will lose games sometimes, we won’t manage 51 games in a row without defeat next year. But we want to attack.” What is needed to establish yourself permanently at the top? “Hunger and mentality – the club knows everything else.”
The optimism is fueled by the special circumstances of the season in which Bayer won more titles than in the club’s 119-year history. And they did not win these titles primarily because of the weakness of Bayern, who even picked up more points than the previous year. But because of their own strength, which they eventually used to unnerve the Munich team. They were the first team in league history to remain unbeaten for an entire season. And they were also in the Europa League final, where they lost 3-0 to Atalanta Bergamo, their only defeat in 53 competitive matches.
Xabi wants “German beer” instead of Spanish red wine
What was always neglected during this ride through the three competitions was made up for on Saturday evening: celebrating! “Of course” they will do that, said Alonso with a knowing smile shortly after the game. And he did not want Spanish red wine: “Tonight I’m drinking German beer.” The beer had already flowed in the dressing room, said captain Lukas Hradecky, “and champagne and everything that goes with it.”
Although the first championship title in the club’s history had been a given since mid-April, they had always remained focused. In the cup competitions, to get to the finals. In the league, to complete the series. “We haven’t really celebrated yet. Not the championship, nothing,” said Rolfes. But now the players can “give it as much gas as they want. Now they can finally enjoy it and let off some steam.” Carro emphasised: “Today we’re going to celebrate until our bodies can’t take any more.”
A lot has also developed in the surrounding area
But the party at Potsdamer Platz in the capital, where the first players arrived at around 1:30 a.m. wearing sunglasses, was just the start. A big program was planned for the return to the city of 160,000 inhabitants on Sunday afternoon. An entry in the city’s Golden Book, a motorcade and a final celebration with 40,000 fans in the stadium. The tickets for this sold out quickly.
They have also refuted these clichés this season. That Leverkusen has no fans, no atmosphere and can’t celebrate. Even though the 30,000 Bayer fans in Berlin had a tough time against the group from the Palatinate, almost twice as strong, with impressive devil choreography. But something has emerged in and around the club. And that should only be the beginning.