I’m glad that you’ve joined me again for the latest stage of my German journey on Championship Manager 99/00. Bayer Leverkusen have made a promising start to the 2001/2002 season, but it’s too early to tell whether this will be the year that we finally win something.
In today’s chapter, Leverkusen will compete in all three major competitions as we go through the final three months of 2001. Don’t forget that you can go back to Part 7 if you want to catch up first – or even if you just want to have another look at our new signings. I wouldn’t blame you; our new Colombian striker really is a delight!
OCTOBER 2001
To recap, we’ve won five of our first seven league games and are in 4th place, trailing only HSV, Schalke 04… and Kaiserslautern, who still have a 100% record. Otto Rehhagel’s outfit look like the team to beat, especially with champions Bayern München having started shakily.
Before we returned to league action, we had a couple of cup matches to take care of. First up was our DFB-Pokal opener, away to a Karlsruhe side who were 2nd in the second division.
KARLSRUHE 0-2 LEVERKUSEN (DFB-Pokal – Round 3)
Karlsruhe pushed us at times, but a couple of killer set-pieces saw them off. Firstly, a 26th-minute corner from Ronaldinho was headed home by a resurgent Oliver Neuville. Andri Sigþórsson also used his head to devastating effect, climbing above goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch to finish Stefan Schnoor‘s free-kick.
Karlsruhe started this match with a five-man midfield, and as an erstwhile viewer of 1990s children’s TV, I was amused that they had a right-sided partnership of Hey and Arnold. That was until the 32nd minute, when Marc Arnold two-footed Ronaldinho and was sent off. I presume he made like school bully Harold, and ran away crying for his mommy.
Stephane Henchoz hadn’t yet won many friends at Leverkusen. For starters, the Swiss defender complained that he was being “treated unfairly” because he wasn’t regularly starting matches. Then he had the nerve to criticise his team-mates, even though we’d lost just one of our last 11 matches! Needless to say, those remarks cost him a week’s wages.
After nipping that in the bud, I watched the Round 4 draw, which pitted us at home to Kaiserslautern. The team who pipped us to the Pokal in 2000, and who’d not yet lost a single match within 90 minutes this season. [Sigh]
A week later, were back in Champions League action at Elland Road. Defeat to David O’Leary’s Leeds would deal a huge blow to our hopes of negotiating the first group phase.
[Clicks “Yes” to start match]
OH GOD! I forgot to take out Holger Hiemann and put Massimo Taibi back in goal! WHAT HAVE I DONE?
LEEDS 0-0 LEVERKUSEN (Champions League – Phase 1 Group E, Match 4)
I’m a tactical genius! Hiemann actually had a great time in Yorkshire, keeping out Leeds’ only two shots on target from Harry Kewell and Michael Bridges. Sadly, his counterpart Paul Robinson also played a blinder, and so this match – just like the previous meeting in Leverkusen – finished goalless.
Inter’s 2-1 win over National Bucharest sent them top of Group E with seven points. We were level on six points with Leeds, but it was United who currently held 2nd position courtesy of having scored one goal more. The final two rounds of fixtures were sure to be nail-biting affairs.
Next on the schedule – SC Freiburg at home in the Bundesliga. You know what that means, folks!
LEVERKUSEN 2-0 SC FREIBURG (Bundesliga – Match 8)
That’s right – another magnificent performance from Freiburg’s goalkeeper Richard ‘No’ Golz! This time, though, we managed to get a couple of shots past him and end a run of five meetings without victory!
The Freiburg defence survived a first-half Bayer onslaught, even after centre-back Oumar Kondé dislocated his jaw. Their resistance continued until the 57th minute, when Sigþórsson’s hopeful effort somehow squirmed past Golz, proving that the 33-year-old was human after all.
Eight minutes later, the superhuman Robson Ponte secured victory with his tenth assist of the campaign, after his corner delivery was headed home by Boris Zivkovic. The Brazilian winger was on fire – and boy did we need him to keep on burning against Inter in our penultimate Champions League group match.
INTER 0-0 LEVERKUSEN (Champions League – Phase 1 Group E, Match 5)
This was an Inter team with the likes of Ronaldo, Pablo Aimar, Edgar Davids, Javier Zanetti… Grigoris Georgatos! Yet Taibi managed to keep out shots from all five of those megastars at the San Siro… except Ronaldo, who missed the target with all three of his. Maybe ‘El Fenomeno’ was too worried about injuring himself yet again.
Anyway, we survived an Inter storm to maintain our unbeaten Champions League group record, albeit with a fourth draw out of five. Leeds had the same record after being held to a 3-3 draw at National Bucharest.
That meant we would qualify for the next round if we won our final group match at home to National. Anything else, and we would be dependent on the Leeds vs Inter result.
TEBE BERLIN 0-1 LEVERKUSEN (Bundesliga – Match 9)
Before that, Taibi put on another goalkeeping clinic to thwart newly-promoted TeBe Berlin (skippered by Manchester City icon Uwe Rösler). Nine saves from the Italian kept our early title challenge on track against tricky opponents.
Everything happened for us midway through the first half. Ronaldinho twisted his knee in the 24th minute, but compatriot Ponte got another assist two minutes later when his cross was volleyed in by Sigþórsson. It wasn’t such a good day for left-back Vratislav Gresko, who was booked for shoving home midfielder Bruno Akrapovic, only to receive a second yellow for kicking the ball away in disgust!
Now it was time for our date with destiny against National. Would our Champions League dream become a nightmare on Halloween?
LEVERKUSEN 4-0 NATIONAL BUCHAREST (Champions League – Phase 1 Group E, Match 6)
Not on our strikers’ watches. Juan Pablo Angel returned to form with the opening goal on 26 minutes, while Sigþórsson doubled our lead 10 minutes later after Ulf Kirsten‘s shot was parried. Neuville then came off the bench to lampoon National with two goals, thus sending us into the last 16.
We qualified from Group E in 2nd place behind Inter, who humiliated Leeds 6-0 at Elland Road after hat-tricks from Ronaldo and Marcelo Delgado. Our reward for reaching Phase 2 was a place in an Italo-German Group D alongside Juventus, Roma and Bayern München.
NOVEMBER 2001
That National match was Matthew Jones‘ last for Leverkusen. After five outings in nearly two months on loan from Leeds, the Welsh defender was heading south-east to join second-tier 1860 München on a permanent deal.
Matt’s farewell came as we prepared to welcome back captain Jens Nowotny from a groin muscle injury. Nowotny was named the bench against Schalke 04 alongside Thierry Henry, who too was almost ready to resume full training after some time out.
Sadly, Sigþórsson was now unavailable for a month after sustaining a groin strain of his own. I ought to have a word with all the players’ wives and girlfriends about this.
LEVERKUSEN 2-1 SCHALKE 04 (Bundesliga – Match 10)
I then proceeded to give my Schalke counterpart Huub Stevens a proverbial kick in the privates. The match was nicely-poised at half-time, as Emerson’s 18th-minute opener for Leverkusen (guess who set it up?) was cancelled out by Ebbe Sand. However, Ponte followed up his latest assist by finding the net four minutes into the second half, setting us up for another victory.
With that result, we leapfrogged Schalke and went top of the Bundesliga… at least until Dortmund won 3-0 against 1.FC Köln.
There would be an 18-day gap until our next game, in which we opened up Phase 2 of the Champions League against Bayern. During that break, we lost Carsten Ramelow until the new year with… guess what? Yep. Another groin strain.
We also got Adam Ledwon off the wage bill at long last after Greuther Fürth signed the Polish midfielder on a free transfer.
LEVERKUSEN 0-3 BAYERN MÜNCHEN (Champions League – Phase 2 Group D, Match 1)
Well, that hurt like hell.
For starters, we were pummelled by a couple of first-half Stefan Effenberg free-kicks following careless fouls by Emerson and Zivkovic. Bayern’s midfield general then created their third goal midway through the second half for Brazilian striker Paulo Sergio. I guess that was Paulo’s revenge for me calling him a “poor man’s Giovane Elber” in the last chapter.
The group’s other opening match was also very one-sided, as Vincenzo Montella scored all of Roma’s goals in a 4-1 thrashing of hosts Juventus. Fair to say I wasn’t looking forward to visiting the Olimpico in December!
LEVERKUSEN 5-0 1.FC KÖLN (Bundesliga – Match 11)
I think Frank Rost will have recurring nightmares about Angel for a while yet! Three months after conceding twice to the Colombian while playing for Werder Bremen, the new Köln keeper was subjected to another JP masterclass.
Angel not only beat him another couple of times in either half, but also contributed THREE assists – one for Sigþórsson, and two for Martin Jørgensen. Add to that a 32nd-minute red card for 16-year-old defender Timo Baumann, and it was a pretty ‘gruff’ afternoon for the Billy Goats.
Speaking of Hertha, they were relentlessly pursuing our left-back Markus Happe, offering as much as £5.75million. Then Bayern got involved and offered us £7million for Happe, as well as £15million for Emerson. Obviously I wasn’t going to just hand over our best assets over to Ottmar Hitzfeld, so Happe and Emerson were staying put.
Another of our Champions League opponents – Roma – also wanted Emerson, as did their Serie A foes Inter and Lazio. Mind you, it would take much more than the £15million they were offering for us to part with the Brazilian. Understandably, the man himself got a bit uppity at not being allowed to move clubs, which soured the mood a little before our big DFB-Pokal game.
LEVERKUSEN 1-0 KAISERSLAUTERN (DFB-Pokal – Round 4)
18 months on, we avenged our cup defeat to Kaiserslautern… even if it did take a couple of hours. Otto Rehhagel’s defence was typically solid throughout the first 90 minutes at the BayArena, denying our attackers at every opportunity. They even tried to hit us on the break late on, but Taibi’s point-blank save denied Youri Djorkaeff a winner.
Then came extra-time, which was a tale of two Leverkusen substitutes. Just two minutes after the restart, Siggi’s mind zagged momentarily as he headbutted Red Devils defender Michael Schjønberg in a Nordic rage. That red card could have cost us, but early in the second extra half, 20-year-old midfielder Udo Schrötter won the game with his first club goal.
The Quarter Final paired us with a familiar foe. Two seasons ago, we battled past second-division Stuttgarter Kickers on our way to the Final. Now they stood between us and the Semis.
DECEMBER 2001
After all that drama, surely things would be a bit quieter at the Frankenstadion when we faced Nürnberg?
NÜRNBERG 1-2 LEVERKUSEN (Bundesliga – Match 12)
Not one bit of it. Firstly, Henry got into a very early scuffle with Nürnberg’s wing-back Jochen Weigl, which ended in Weigl being dismissed and our man escaping with a caution. Titi narrowly avoided being sent off, but Ronaldinho and Happe had to come off midway through the first half after straining their knee and pulling a hamstring respectively.
Then the football started. Emerson cast his Italian dream to one side by swerving in the opener after 32 minutes, only for Bernd Hobsch to level within 10 minutes. Frustration then ensued in the second half, as Nürnberg’s 38-year-old goalkeeper/skipper Andreas Köpke routinely saved shots from everyone in a Leverkusen jersey…
…except Thomas Brdaric. Remember him? More than a year after loaning him out to Darmstadt and then banishing him to the reserves, Brdaric returned to Bundesliga action as a man on a mission. On 70 minutes, Jørgensen sent a deep ball into the box for the 26-year-old cast-off, who took his opportunity and won us the game!
That goal turned out to be a pivotal moment for both teams. We now led the Bundesliga again, sitting ahead of Dortmund on goal difference – and with a game in hand! As for Nürnberg, they dropped to 15th place – just three points above the drop zone – and promptly sacked their manager Jürgen Röber.
Unfortunately, we were now knackered, and we would have to travel to Rome without three first-teamers: Ron, Happe… and Zé Roberto.
ROMA 2-1 LEVERKUSEN (Champions League – Phase 2 Group D, Match 2)
Obviously, nobody was gonna drive us home from the Italian capital – but if we’d foregone the plane, the journey back to Leverkusen would’ve felt even longer. Despite a valiant defensive display in the first period, we succumbed to a couple of excellent second-half strikes from Roma strikers Marco Delvecchio and Vincenzo Montella. Not even a late Henry consolation could move us off the bottom of our group.
Once we got home, we began a run of three straight league games at the BayArena. The first was an early reunion with Kaiserslautern, who would potentially move to within a point of us if they won. (Incidentally, Sigþórsson’s antics in that last meeting had earned him an eight-match DFB-Pokal ban, though he was cleared to play in league games.)
LEVERKUSEN 1-1 KAISERSLAUTERN (Bundesliga – Match 13)
Both teams exchanged goals in a thrilling first period (Henry scoring for us before Dani drew the visitors level). Things weren’t quite so hectic after the restart, though a couple of late bookings for long-serving Kaiserslautern midfielder Axel Roos gave us hope of a late winner. It sadly wasn’t to be, but a 1-1 draw was a fair result all told.
Dortmund regained top spot with a 2-0 win at home to VfB Stuttgart the following day. However, we had a chance to go back to the summit when we hosted Werder Bremen in midweek.
LEVERKUSEN 0-0 WERDER BREMEN (Bundesliga – Match 14)
Every now and then, we come up against a goalkeeper who plays like Superman. Donning the cape on this occasion was Werder Bremen’s Pascal Borel, who was like kryptonite to both Angel and Siggi. Neuville joined them up front in the second half, but Borel stood firm as we were shut out in the league for the first time since the opening day.
The good news: Dortmund lost 1-0 at Hertha BSC, so we actually gained a point on HSV. The bad news: HSV won 3-1 at home to Frankfurt to claim top spot and go two points clear of us – though we also had a game in hand on them.
LEVERKUSEN 2-2 VFB STUTTGART (Bundesliga – Match 15)
Our wobbles continued with a third consecutive home draw – this time against 6th-placed VfB Stuttgart. ‘Die Roten’ led at the break after Christian Ziege’s 36th-minute cross was spectacularly volleyed in by Ioan Viorel Ganea.
A mistake from Stuttgart keeper Eberhard Trautner allowed Kirsten to restore parity through a diving header nine minutes into the second half. The visitors then regained the lead through Manel, but Ulf quickly got another goal back to save a point. Alas, as both HSV and Dortmund won their games, we lost some vital ground on the leaders.
A few days later, we headed off to Stuttgart to face VfB’s less illustrious neighbours in the DFB-Pokal. Would they Kicker us out, or could we move a step closer to cup glory?
STUTTGARTER KICKERS 1-2 LEVERKUSEN (DFB-Pokal – Quarter Final)
This wasn’t as stressful as our last cup game against Kickers, but we still weren’t at our best. Things had looked comfortable at half-time, as a Neuville brace put us firmly on track for the Semi Finals. Nowotny then had a second-half goal disallowed, and we struggled to kill the hosts off before winger Christian Fiel got them a late consolation.
Dortmund, HSV and Stuttgart were the other teams through to the last four. We would find out the identity of our opponents after our next Bundesliga match, as we concluded 2001 with a trip to München’s Olympiastadion.
This was a potentially significant moment. Bayern had stuttered in the Bundesliga so far, trailing us by seven points in 8th place. Were Hitzfeld’s superstars to win here, though, it would give them a potential route back towards defending their title.
BAYERN MÜNCHEN 1-1 LEVERKUSEN (Bundesliga – Match 16)
Normally, getting a draw at Bayern would have been cause for celebration. For reasons you can probably tell, though, this felt more like two points lost than one gained.
Bayern’s implosion began after 26 minutes, when captain Effenberg decided he wanted to rearrange Jørgensen’s face with his head. Effenberg was dismissed… but just three minutes later, Roque Santa Cruz put the team that was a man down a goal up. One of those facts would change early in the second half.
Nine minutes after the restart, Santa Cruz went in hard on his opposite number Kirsten to pick up a yellow card. The Paraguayan exchanged a few choice words with the referee, and he was immediately sent to the dressing room with a couple more cards. FCB were down to nine men!
Though we obviously dominated the last half-hour or so, Oliver Kahn infuriatingly kept us at bay until Ronaldinho finally broke through eight minutes from time. That sent Bayern midfielder Jens Jeremies over the edge. Three minutes and two bookable fouls later, he too was heading for an early bath!
Despite having to finish with only EIGHT players on the field, the hosts survived the closing stages and held us to a fourth successive league draw. To make matters worse, the top two each won again, leaving the end-of-year Bundesliga table as follows:
Hamburg and Dortmund were clearly going to take some stopping. We would do well to avoid either of them in the cup…
We’ll pick things up again next week, when we kick off 2002 with more league and continental matches – plus, of course, that DFB-Pokal Semi Final against Dortmund. Time is running out in our pursuit of silverware, and we can’t afford many more slip-ups.
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