German Cup title crowns 'fairytale' season for Leverkusen
A title drought of more than 30 years came to an end for Bayer Leverkusen when they clinched their maiden Bundesliga title on April 14 and they went on to complete a domestic double with a hard-fought win to take the German Cup trophy on Saturday.
"It seems like a fairytale. Maybe in two or three weeks we will realize what we have achieved," captain Lukas Hradecky told reporters after the 1-0 win against Kaiserslautern.
Leverkusen broke the deadlock against the second division team in the 16th minute with Granit Xhaka, but had Odilon Kossounou sent off in the 44th.
They played the entire second half with 10 men on the pitch but that setback was not big enough to keep them from claiming the club's first-ever domestic double.
"We defended very well. As the coach said, we were given a very difficult task and we took it very well. We fought, we had the chance to score the 2-0 and maybe decide the game earlier, but we had a big task today," Jonas Hofmann said.
"It was expected (that Kaiserslautern would be a difficult opponent) and of course it was a bit more difficult with the red card," he added.
The Cup win, under a stunning sunset at Berlin's Olympic stadium, came after a difficult loss to Atalanta in the Europa League final - which not only crushed Leverkusen's dreams of a triple winning season, but also ended their impressive unbeaten run across all competitions.
The victory in Berlin, however, didn't come to heal the Europa League wounds, but to crown a historic season, which included a record undefeated run in the Bundesliga.
"The full journey and season was wonderful. What we have done this season is unbelievable. To play these games with energy and belief. I am very very proud of the team. We will always remember this in the future," coach Xabi Alonso said in a news conference.
"Our target in July was to have a good season. We had clear targets but after three, four games I was optimistic. Maybe not as big as what’s happened here. To play 53 games and only have one defeat. It is unbelievable," he added.
Defender Alejandro Grimaldo said that they will "enjoy everything we achieved because after all we made history and at the start of the season we didn't think we could do it."
But he already has an eye on the future: "I’m sure that with the group we have and with the players that may come, we’ll make a stronger team."
