Emo 04 Leverkusen

It wasn’t meant to be for Bayer Leverkusen back in 2002. Instead of winning their first ever Bundesliga and Champions League title, it was Neverkusen all over again. They choked in the league (as always) and were denied by Zinedine Zidane in the Champions League final. May it serve as consolation, that it wasn’t some unlucky fluke goal, but in fact the best one ever scored in this competition.

Now, put yourself in Bernd Schneider’s shoes who then also went on to finish as runner-up in the 2002 World Cup, and the heartbreak is complete.

Bayer kindly invited the team in for some anti-depressants on the house. Furthermore the players and fans decided, they needed a new theme song that helps to soothe the pain. Originally The Verve’s The Drugs Don’t Work was everybody’s favourite, but a smart PR person within the club figured, this song might not reflect well on Bayer’s product line-up. So they settled for Bittersweet Symphony instead.

And Bittersweet Symphony it is since 2002/2003.

As this video proves, it doesn’t mean you can’t play a run-of-the-mill “Let’s get it started!” song shortly afterwards. You just need to get the timing right, so it doesn’t come across as ridiculous.

Now, in recent years Leverkusen did a good job keeping out of trouble. They routinely finished in the UEFA Cup places and did reasonably OK in that competition and in the DFB Cup as well. Yet, five consecutive wins and 16 goals later - compare that to Bayern Munich’s 4 goals in 5 matches; just for the fun of it - this team isn’t just playing some of the most entertaining football of the league, but they are also ready to get their hearts broken again. With just one point short of Hamburg, they might actually play a role in this year’s title race.

Category: 1. Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Leverkusen

Tags: 1. Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Bernd Schneider

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