This Saturday, Xabi Alonso’s men face Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final. Objective: achieve the national double.
Badly beaten in the final of the Europa League on Wednesday (3-0) by Atalanta, Bayer Leverkusen is aiming for the Cup/Championship double this Saturday (8:00 p.m.) against Kaiserslautern, residents of the 2nd division, at the Berlin Olympic Stadium. A consolation prize.
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.
Leverkusen, sixth team to achieve the double?
Florian Wirtz’s teammates can become only the sixth club to achieve the Cup/Championship double, joining 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
For its part, Kaiserslautern has just ensured its retention in the second division at the last minute during the 33rd and penultimate day of the championship. The Bundesliga 2 resident is one game away from a European Cup appearance (Europa League) next season, contested by only four German clubs below the first division (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.
