Bundesliga
Saturday 10th September 2016
Bayer Leverkusen - a club known to many people outside their homeland although you'd be forgiven for not knowing exactly where in Germany 'Leverkusen' actually is!
Located close to Koln in the North-West and named after the pharmaceutical giant 'Bayer', they've been a staple in the Bundesliga for several years. Many familiar figures have pulled on their red and black shirts at different points including Michael Ballack, Sami Hyypia, Dimitar Berbatov, Javier Hernandez and Kai Havertz. They're probably best remembered for reaching the 2002 UEFA Champions League Final where they were beaten by Real Madrid as Zinedine Zidane scored THAT stunning goal.
Surprisingly, however, they've never won the Bundesliga despite the odd title challenge.
Their opponents for this encounter were Hamburg - a club who, at the time, were an ever-present feature since the Bundesliga's creation half a century earlier. Former European Cup winners and league champions as recently as 2007, they'd fallen on problematic times on the pitch a decade on - flirting with relegation year after year with increasing difficulty.
The game was on the second matchday of the Bundesliga season and the weather felt beyond boiling point (to put it mildly!) with temperatures in excess of 30 degrees. I'd planned the trip well in advance as part of a long week-long jaunt around Europe visiting various games and having run into difficulty trying to purchase a ticket online, discussion with Bayer Leverkusen ended up with them giving me a free ticket - not a bad way to start the trip!
It wasn't a thrilling contest on the pitch but it wasn't dreadful either - though roasting in the sunshine made the experience less enjoyable as it was 'too hot'.
After a relatively sterile first 45 minutes, things sprung to life when Hamburg took the lead against the run of play just before the hour mark as Bobby Wood reached a low downfield ball ahead of Bernd Leno who'd come flying off his goal-line only to miss the ball - leaving the American with the simplest of finishes from the edge of the box.
Leverkusen were made of sterner stuff than their counterparts though and they soon threatened an equaliser with Julian Brandt slipping a clever pass straight into the path of Javier Hernandez whose subsequent shot clipped the post before rolling out of play.
The hosts' pressure continued and Brandt, who'd started the game on the bench - only to be introduced at half-time, was heavily involved in the eventual equaliser on 79 minutes as he again showed the technical awareness to find space in a dangerous position and floated a teasing ball across the face of goal which Joel Pohjanpalo gratefully headed home to make it 1-1.
At this point, I subsequently made the decision to leave a few minutes early to 'beat the crowds' (and visit a handily-located McDonalds right opposite the stadium). I don't know what 'For F**k Sake' translates to in German but I certainly uttered those words when I heard Leverkusen's signature goal tune 'Rocking All Over The World' by Status Quo playing aloud - thus indicating they had scored a late winner. Then, only a couple of minutes later, I heard it again - why oh why didn't I just stay to see the final five minutes or so?
As it transpired, Pohjanpalo grabbed two injury-time goals to get a hat-trick!
Nevertheless, it was still a memorable trip and as I've said several times before on this blog, football in Germany is an altogether far more enjoyable experience for fans than in England. As well as being able to have a beer in your seat in view of the pitch without attracting the attention of a jobsworth steward wearing a fluorescent jacket, programmes (at most clubs) are free, ticket prices are cheaper, terracing is available and 'local transport' is often included in the price of your match ticket as well.
Photos below are from a stadium tour of the BayArena in January 2016:
Photos below are from Bayer Leverkusen vs Hamburg on 10/09/2016.
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