21.05.2023Bayer 04

Emotional farewell to Bellarabi and Co.

“Karim Bellarabi – oh, oh, oh!” – the final Bundesliga home game in the 2022/23 season belonged to the longest-serving Bayer 04 player. A few days after announcing the end of his career in Germany, the 33-year-old, and four other Leverkusen players were given a fitting farewell at the game against Borussia Mönchengladbach (2-2). Twelve years at the Werkself, almost 300 games and a place in the top fifteen Bayer 04 record appearance makers speaks for itself in looking at Bellarabi’s time in Black and Red. It was very emotional all round after the end of the game…

“I’ve experienced great things and played in fantastic games for this club. I have grown very close to Bayer 04,” Karim Bellarabi said himself a few days ago. The eleven-time Germany international was unable to play against Borussia due to a muscle injury but he was a key element of the match on Sunday night in front of a full house at the BayArena.

Just before kick-off , the managing directors Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes presented him with a collage of photos from more than ten years under the Bayer Cross, the fans celebrated the crowd favourite with a striking Bellarabi song. During the 90 minutes of action on the pitch, Bellarabi supported his teammates as usual with great enthusiasm from the sidelines..

Bellarabi leads the singing

After the final whistle, Karim Bellarabi did a lap of honour with his teammates behind him – starting in front of the West Stand, then to the South Stand via the East Stand before finishing in front of the North Stand. Warm embraces with each and every fellow Werkself player was followed by climbing onto a podium at the home end.

Bellarabi was given a megaphone and he led the singing with thousands of Bayer 04 fans dressed in red. When he left the pitch at the BayArena for the last time as a Werkself player, “Karim Bellarabi – oh, oh, oh!” rang out from the stands…

four other players set to leave

Goalkeeper Andrey Lunev, Daley Sinkgraven, Ayman Azhil and Callum Hudson-Odoi also received farewells before kick-off. Fernando Carro and Simon Rolfes thanked the four departing Werkself players for their time and commitment in a Bayer 04 shirt and also presented them with a photo collage.

Andrej Lunev joined Bayer 04 from Zenit St. Petersburg in the summer of 2021 and he made three appearances. The 31-year-old Russian has been ruled out through injury over recent months. Ayman Azhil started at the Black and Reds at the age of seven and he progressed through all the junior teams. With the exception of a two-year spell on loan at top-flight Dutch club RKC Waalwijk (2020-2022), Azhil, who played in one Bundesliga game, always remained loyal to Bayer 04.

Daley Sinkgraven can look back at four years in Leverkusen. The versatile Dutchman, signed from Ajax in 2019, made 78 appearances (six assists). Callum Hudson-Odoi joined the Werkself on loan from Premier League club Chelsea at the start of the season and the winger played 21 games and was involved in two goals for the Black and Reds.

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