Badly beaten in the final of the Europa League on Wednesday (3-0) by Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen is aiming for a nice consolation prize on Saturday (8:00 p.m./6:00 p.m. GMT) for the Cup/Championship double against Kaiserslautern, residents of the 2nd division, in Berlin Olympic Stadium.
Leverkusen’s dreams of a perfect season without defeat and a treble were dashed on Wednesday evening in Dublin, with a first setback this season in 52 matches against Atalanta Bergamo, who were fantastically well established and dominant with their high pressing.
“It wasn’t our day, we have to accept that. In theory, the first defeat of the season happens much earlier, here it happened in an important match, and it hurts”recognized Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso, specifying. “The team did not perform at its best level, neither did I”he clarified.
“If we don’t achieve the hat-trick, then we will do the double”slipped Swiss midfielder Granit Xhaka, who was only a shadow of himself in Ireland.
The Werkself (the “factory eleven”nickname of the team of the club founded in 1904 by the chemist Bayer) immediately went from Dublin to Berlin, where his 53rd and last match of the season awaits him, a German Cup final which he will tackle in the shoes of the great favorite.
Bayer Leverkusen attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz protects his ball in front of Atalanta Bergamo defender Isak Hien in the Europa League final on May 22, 2024 in Dublin / Oli SCARFF / AFP
The German champion, who travels with Schale – trophy awarded to the winner of the Bundesliga – in his suitcases, faces Kaiserslautern. Quadruple German champion (1951, 1953, 1991 and 1998) and double winner of the Cup (1990 and 1996), “Lautern” is a far cry from its former glory, with only two seasons in the elite of German football since the summer of 2006, and even a visit to the third division.
Double achieved by only five clubs
While he has just ensured at the last minute his stay in the second division during the 33rd and penultimate day of the championship, he is one match away from a presence in the European Cup (Europa League) next season, contested by only four German clubs below the Bundesliga (Hanover in 1992/93, Kaiserslautern in 1996/97, Alemania Aachen in 2004/05 and Union Belrin in 2001/02). To achieve this, we will have to win the Cup, the finalist place is no longer enough since 2015.
“It naturally sounds great, but it’s going to be extremely difficult. We know we have a very small chance. But we will do everything to make the impossible possible”explained Kaiserslautern coach Friedhelm Funkel, in an interview with the German sports press agency SID, a subsidiary of AFP.
This is the first time since 2011 that a second division club has reached the German Cup final. In the previous round, Leverkusen was the only Bundesliga player in the last four, a first in the history of the competition.
Boris Tomiak (d) and Julian Niehues of Kaiserslautern after Almamy Toure’s goal against Saarbrück in the German Cup semi-final on April 2, 2024 in Saarbrück / Jean-Christophe VERHAEGEN / AFP/Archives
The teammates of Lukas Hradecky, who will take over his starting place in the Leverkusen goals left to Matej Kovar throughout the season in the Europa League (including the final on Wednesday) and in the Cup, can become only the sixth club to achieve the Cup/Cup double. Championship, and joined Schalke (1937), Bayern (1969), FC Cologne (1978), Werder Bremen (2004) and Borussia Dortmund (2012).
The Munich residents are the only ones to have more than a double having achieved this performance 13 times, the last in 2020.
