A nickname that will likely go down in history after Leverkusen’s exploits in 2023/24, but what’s the story?
Founded in July 1904 by employees of the Leverkusen-based pharmaceutical company Bayer AG, the team spent its first few years in the lower leagues before reaching the second division shortly before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963. In 1979, after some ups and downs, the team known as Werkself – Factory XI – reached the elite.
Contrary to what might be expected from its nickname, good luck remained as the club won its first major honour with the 1987/88 UEFA Cup, after leading 3-0 in the last first leg against Espanyol on penalties. An Alonso scored for the Spaniards in the penalty shootout, but Àngel ‘Pichi’ Alonso does not look like Xabi.
After German reunification, East German striker Ulf Kirsten joined the organization and followed the first influx of Brazilians with Jorginho and Paulo Sérgio. And in 1993 the Werkself won another trophy with the conquest of the DFB Cup.
The club then enjoyed its most productive result in a domestic season when it finished behind Bayern Munich in 1996/97. Two things made the difference, though it was often an unforeseen outcome. It also led them to participate in the UEFA Champions League for the first time around, reaching the quarter-finals against Real Madrid. Happy days in Leverkusen, really.
In the 1998/99 season they finished second behind Bayern. Considering the 15-point difference at the end, they were not too frustrated or discouraged.
This sentiment changed a lot the following year. For the third time in 4 seasons, they finished second, but this time in the most heartbreaking way.
They overtook Bayern with five games to go and held onto the top spot heading into the final weekend. On their visit to Unterhaching they wore 3 lead numbers. Bayern had a bigger goal difference before hosting Werder Bremen. This meant that one point was enough to oppose the touted look of Munich’s suburbs. Haching coach Lorenz-Günther Köstner went so far as to say: “There is a 99. 9% chance that Leverkusen will be champions. »
Then, in the 20th minute, came the crisis, when Michael Ballack scored an own goal. Bayern, on the other side of town, went into the break with a 3-1 lead. Unterhaching then conceded a second goal, prompting FCB captain Stefan Effenberg to raise his arms on the pitch. Halfway through the game he heard the score. It went on and Bayern were crowned champions on goal difference. That day they had to lift a reproduction of the Meisterschale, because the original edition had been transported to Unterhaching and soon returned to its place. in its box.
That’s when other people started using the derisive term Vizekusen (literally Runners-up-kusen), which in English became Neverkusen.
The following season did not, in a way, bring a relief, any second place, but 2001/02 would mark the history of Neverkusen. They say no one remembers second place, but everyone remembers that year.
A team composed of Ballack, Kirsten, Hans-Jörg Butt, Oliver Neuville, Carsten Ramelow, Bernd Schneider, Lúcio, Zé Roberto, Dimitar Berbatov, Jens Nowotny, Yildiray Bastürk, Diego Placente (the list of famous names is long) had a campaign.
They topped the Bundesliga for most of the second part of the season, all the way to the DFB Cup final and made a name for themselves in Europe by beating the likes of Barcelona and Juventus, and then knocking out Liverpool and Manchester United. German club that will reach the final of the Champions League/European Cup.
They were on their way to an unprecedented (at the time) treble.
Everything was fixed in a matter of a month. The draw in Hamburg was followed by defeats to Bremen and Nuremberg, which saw them lose top spot in the Bundesliga before the final matchday. A 2-1 win against Hertha Berlin was not enough to return to qualification. against Borussia Dortmund, who came from behind to beat Werder by the same scoreline.
A week later, they won 4-2 against Schalke in Berlin in the DFB Cup final.
Just four days later, in Glasgow, a goal from the now famous Zinedine Zidane meant Klaus Toppmöller’s side also lost the Champions League final.
A hat-trick is nothing and Vizekusen’s call has not become unusual among German football fans.
The media even feared that Vizekusen syndrome would affect the national team, which featured five Leverkusen players at the 2002 World Cup. Yes, Germany finished second. . . But Lúcio was on the side of Brazil’s winner.
It was the fourth time in six years that Bayer had finished runners-up in the Bundesliga. Since then, opposition fans have chanted with satisfaction: “You will never be champions. “The Leverkusen fans ended up laughing at themselves and chanting “We will never be champions”. The parent company, Bayer AG, even trademarked the term Vizekusen in 2010, the year in which the team started unbeaten 24 matches in the crusade with Jupp Heynckes and still finished fourth.
The following season, the club finished second behind Jürgen Klopp’s Dortmund in 2010/11. Only Bayern, BVB, Bremen and Schalke finished second in the Bundesliga. Schalke and Leverkusen also boasted the unwanted prestige of being the only clubs to finish runners-up. They have been champions more than once and have never been Bundesliga champions. In the pre-Bundesliga era, the Royal Blues were still notable for their seven championships.
“It’s true that it was boring at first,” club honorary captain Ramelow said in April 2024. “But over time it gets over the better of you. “
And now the whole club has recovered, after years of false dawns and misplaced hopes.
Watch: Xabi Alonso, the king of Leverkusen
The 2023/24 promotion banished the curse of Neverkusen in style, winning the Bundesliga with five rounds to go after a crusade in which they also set a German record of 46 competitive games unbeaten to start the season.
“I’m very, very relieved, but still as nervous as before,” said Reiner Calmund, the club’s former CEO in the glory days of the UEFA Cup and DFB Cup, but also a finalist in the UEFA Cup final. millennium, a week before the name of the Bundesliga was confirmed.
Things could be even better for Leverkusen as they prepare to face second-tier Kaiserslautern in the DFB Cup final in May. Or will it finally be Treblekusen with the addition of the UEFA Europa League?No more Neverkusen.
Xavi is suspended for Saturday’s match against Werder Bremen at RB Leipzig.
As part of the third edition of the Bundesliga Japan Tour, VfB will travel to Japan from July 26 to August 1.
bundesliga. com looks at what makes the midfielder so good for Leverkusen and Germany. . .
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