2024-04-27 01:28:42
The “pharmacists” broke the curse only decades later.
İdman.biz presents an article with a link to soccer.ru.
Many have probably heard that Bayer were called “Neverkusen”. However, not everyone knows why the German club received this nickname. Bayer is far from the most popular club in Germany. From 1997 to 2002, the team from Leverkusen was difficult to beat, but the “pharmacists” were unable to win a single trophy during that period.
The formation of Bayer in the late 90s
It is worth noting that Bayer is not a popular club in Germany even in 2024, when it managed to break Bayern’s hegemony in the Bundesliga. From the very beginning, the team was supported by the pharmaceutical company Bayer. As we saw with Red Bull-funded Leipzig, German fans don’t like to root for a club backed by a wealthy corporation.
In the mid-90s, Bayer had infrastructure, money and one of the most ambitious managing directors in Europe – Rainer Kalmund. However, the club had no fan support and, more importantly, no trophies other than winning the UEFA Cup. Kalmund set out to change that.
After the disastrous 1995/96 season, when Bayer nearly relegated from the top division, the Leverkusen team is led by Christoph Daum. In his first season at the helm of the Pharmacists, Daum almost won the title. Bayer finished just two points behind Bayern, and striker Ulf Kirsten became something of a phenomenon for the team in those years. With a short stature but a broad build similar to Xherdan Shaqiri, the former East German footballer played a total of 14 seasons, 448 matches and scored 239 goals for Bayer Leverkusen. Kirsten ranks 6th on the list of top scorers in Bundesliga history and 2nd after Gerd Müller among all-time top scorers in the championship.
Kirsten had his best season in his career in the 1996/97 campaign, when he was 32 years old, scoring 22 goals in the Bundesliga. And in the next campaign (1997/98) he performed even better – he also scored 22 goals, but played 2 fewer matches than the year before. However, this was not enough to lead Bayer to the title. Despite the impressive difference in goals and goals conceded (+27), Daum’s team drew too many matches (13), finishing in 3rd place. In the 1998/99 season, Bayer again showed too many draws (12), so they fell 15 points behind Bayern in 2nd place. Before the start of the 1999/2000 championship, the “pharmacists” made one of their main signings – 22-year-old Michael Ballack from Kaiserslautern joined the team. Then Bayer put together a strong team, but the question remained the same: could Daum succeed with this team?
First big chance
It is noteworthy: despite the fact that Bayer finished second twice over the years and took third place once, it led the standings in three seasons for only one week – in late November – early December 1996. However, a victory over 1860 Munich on April 1, 2000 propelled Bayer into first place. The Pharmacists had only 7 matches left to play in the 1999/2000 season. However, after two games, Bayer lost the lead – the team returned to the bad habit of playing in a draw with weaker opponents, so the club from Leverkusen lost points in the meeting with Hansa. But three days later, 1860 Munich did Bayer a favor by winning the derby against Bayern Munich 2-1. Bayer’s subsequent 4-1 win over Arminia in the same week moved them three points clear of Bayern. There were still 4 matches left to play in the Bundesliga, the fate of the title was in the hands of the “pharmacists”.
In the last round, Bayer would have needed a draw against Unterhaching, which was in the middle of the table, to win its first championship. However, this did not happen. Bayern achieved a comfortable 3-1 win over Werder Bremen in the final match of the season, while Bayer Leverkusen were doing poorly. In the 20th minute, Ballack sent the ball into his own goal. Daum threw caution to the wind in the second half, bringing on two extra strikers to come back, but Markus Oberleitner doubled Unterhaching’s lead in the 72nd minute. Bayern and Bayer scored the same number of points, and the Munich club became champions thanks to the best goal difference.
Daum scandal
The shameful elimination of the German national team at the group stage of Euro 2000 forced the national team to look for a new coach. The Bundesteam’s choice fell on Daum. However, Bayer insisted that the German Football Association would have to wait a season before appointing Christophe as the new coach of the German national team. Daum eventually signed a contract under which he would lead the national team from June 1, 2001, and until then he would coach Bayer.
However, in the end, everything turned out in a way that both sides did not expect. Daum was charged with cocaine use. Instead of ignoring them, Christophe decided to provide a hair sample for testing. In October 2000, the test gave a positive result. After this, Daum was fired from Bayer, and the German Football Association canceled the contract signed with the coach.
Rudi Völler briefly became Bayer’s new coach. He won five out of seven matches at the head of the “pharmacists”, but was appointed coach of the German national team. Berti Vogts, who won Euro 1996 with Bundesteam, began working for Bayer in November 2000. Leverkusen entered December 2000 as one of the main contenders for the title, but a disastrous run of nine defeats in 18 matches undid their efforts as they finished 4th in the table, just one point ahead of Hertha in the fight for a place in the Champions League zone.
However, there were some positives to this disappointing season: Michael Ballack developed into one of Europe’s best midfielders, and young centre-back Lúcio, who was signed in January 2001, became an excellent addition to the team.
“Treble Horror”
Bayer had high hopes for the 2001/02 season. However, this campaign was both the best (until recently) and the most heartbreaking in the history of the Leverkusen club.
Bayer have been leading the German title race since November, with Michael Ballack arguably having the best season of his career. The Pharmacists had a 5-point advantage over Borussia Dortmund and an excellent goal difference. Bayer only needed 4 points from their last three Bundesliga matches to win the championship. However, as two years earlier, luck was not on the side of the “pharmacists”. Bayer lost to Werder Bremen and Nurnberg, allowing Borussia Dortmund to become champions on 4 May 2002, just one point ahead of Leverkusen.
On 11 May, Bayer traveled to Berlin to play against Schalke in the German Cup final. The start of the match was in favor of the “pharmacists” – Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring in the game. However, Schalke responded to the Bulgarian’s goal with four goals scored, and Bayer only managed to “snap back” in the end with a goal from Ulf Kirsten – a defeat with a score of 2:4.
Leverkusen had already missed out on two titles, but they had no time to feel sorry for themselves. On May 15, Bayer had to play in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. The “pharmacists” responded to Raul’s goal in the 8th minute with a precise header from Lucio in the 13th minute. Real had the ball, but Bayer looked decent. In such matches, individual skill often needs to be demonstrated to determine the winner. This happened in this final too. At the end of the first half, Zinedine Zidane scored probably the best goal of his career, bringing the Madrid club the ninth most prestigious club trophy in Europe.
Thus, in 11 days, Bayer missed out on the Bundesliga title, and also lost the finals of the German Cup and Champions League. After this, the club began to be called “Neverkusen”, and the team’s fans call these 11 days “treble horror”. Now Bayer has a chance to complete a real treble this season, because the club has won the Bundesliga title, reached the final of the German Cup, and is also one step away from the semi-finals of the Europa League.
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