M. Beisenherz: Sorry, I’m here privately
Star of the West
Coach Xabi Alonso and his players celebrate with a replica of the championship trophy
© Imago Images
Calli, Toppi, Rudi – everyone tried what Xabi managed to do: Bayer Leverkusen are German champions. An appreciation.
By Micky Beisenherz
It would have been the most normal thing in the world Leverkusen messed up the so-called Big Point in the game against Bremen last Sunday. That’s how we finally got to know them: Vizekusen. This team has often been very good in the past, which rushed towards the top of the table with spectacular football, but stumbled in the end and saw the dull Bayern put the title on the shelf like an annoying formality. “Why not Leverkusen?” was the brave headline in sports magazines before every season, and there was always a hearty laugh.
Leverkusen as champions seemed as realistic as catching Karl Lauterbach at three o’clock at night wearing a beer helmet in the McDonald’s in El Arenal. It seemed that the salt refuser with the Leverkusen constituency would be the last person to win any title in this city for years to come – even if it was just that of Health Minister.
If the concept of a turning point applies anywhere, it would be in the Bundesliga. When the Basque Xabi Alonso took over the club in 2022, the Werkself was in dire straits again, and all 17 fans nationwide feared a fall to League Two. Within a short time, the world champion and Champions League winner Alonso turned the team into a European Cup participant and now the German champion. Maybe that’s some consolation for Bayern: even if they had a good season, which they don’t, they wouldn’t have had a chance against these Leverkusen players this time.
Why are they so strong? Well, that’s mainly due to a coach who turned decent kickers into very good players. Who is still one of the best with the ball in training, obviously finds the right approach and, as a legend of international football, has the necessary credibility to be generally correct with everything he says. Similar to what Zidane experienced as coach at Real Madrid. Los Blancos will have to be patient until Xabi becomes their coach. He not only put the neurotic Bavarians on the spot with a rejection, but also surprised half of Europe with his announcement that he wanted to stay on the bench in the BayArena. Haven’t you seen someone in the professional business for a long time not following the call of money and the next better job, but instead seeing themselves where the fun and joy of creativity live. Great. Great. Great.
A more than deserved coronation
And did it happen that 20 years after Reiner “Calli” Calmund (“if they don’t work, then my big doublet will burst, then say put the stamp on it and off! Pier A 40, I don’t want to see any more!”) the defining figure has left the command bridge, his “Baya Lefferkusen” achieves the unthinkable and simply becomes champion. A more than deserved crowning not only of a season, but also an award for the fact that the club had provided the Bundesliga with such great teams, coaches and stories for such a long time: Sir Erich Ribbeck, Michael Ballack in Unterhaching, the crazy thumb in the blue Suit and walking on the broken glass, Calli and Toppi and the triple tears of 2002.
Paulo Sérgio, Jorginho, Lúcio and all the Brazilians that FC Bayern later took away from them in their spending spree. Emerson, Berbatow, Bernd “Schnix” Schneider.
Berti Vogts and his 20-person coaching team. Jens Nowotny, Bernd Schuster, Ulf Kirsten and Rudi Völler. My God, Rudi Völler. Give them all the titles!
Vicecuses. With V for past.