Press reviews
“Vizekusen has become Titelkusen”
A victory without defeat: Bayer Leverkusen wins the DFB final
© Lars Baron / Getty Images
Bayer Leverkusen can look back on a dream season. After a nail-biting match against Kaiserslautern, one thing is certain: the club has brought home two trophies. Reason to celebrate – also in the press.
Three days after the sobering 0:3 defeat in the Europa League final against Atalanta Bergamo and the only defeat of the season, Xabi Alonso’s team celebrated the victory of the favorites. For Bayer, it is the second cup triumph after 1993. This not only pleases the fans, but is also honored by the press. An overview.
Bayer Leverkusen wins the DFB final – the press comments
“Augsburg General”: “With the cup victory against Kaiserslautern, Bayer Leverkusen has crowned a top-class season. The Werkself remained undefeated throughout the entire Bundesliga season and have now also won the DFB Cup. The fact that Xabi Alonso’s team saved their weakest performance of the season for the Europa League final against Bergamo is annoying from Bayer’s point of view – but the memory of the bitter defeat can also prove helpful. It is an indication that a slackening at a high level is quickly punished.”
“kicker” (Nuremberg): “Vizekusen has become Titelkusen.”
“Spox” (Munich): “Of course, Bayer’s season would still have been historically good even if they had lost again in the DFB Cup final. It will probably be a long time before a team manages to remain unbeaten for an entire Bundesliga season. If anyone ever manages to do that again.”
“Mirror” (Hamburg): “Leverkusen played a historically strong season. A year and a half ago, they seemed to have not only signed a contract with Xabi Alonso, but also a pact with the football god. But the series of 51 games without defeat ended last Wednesday in the final of the Europa League. And like football, bloody helljust like that, namely unpredictable and unfair, this first really bad game had the potential to change the narrative of the entire Leverkusen season. “Neverlosen” threatened to turn back into “Vizekusen”. (…) But in the end it was the Leverkusen players who went to the dressing room relieved.”
“ran” (Unterföhring): “Many expected a clear affair. Leverkusen as an almost unbeatable machine, Kaiserslautern with a very mixed season – and then there was the frustration of the final on Wednesday, when the Werkself lost 3-0 to Atalanta in the Europa League. No one would have been surprised if Xabi Alonso’s team had made short work of the cup final in the first half.”
“Die Zeit” (Hamburg): “But Leverkusen is no longer Vizekusen. Leverkusen, as we know now, can not only play very orchestrated football, they can also work football when they have to. It was arduous, but they defended their 1-0 lead.”