Happy Birthday, Berbo!

Hardly anyone knew him when he was introduced in Leverkusen almost exactly 20 years ago. The shy young man from Sofia, who posed for a group photograph with the other winter signings Lucio and Diego Placente plus the then head coach Berti Vogts in January 2001, was considered by insiders to be a talent with huge potential. Dimitar Berbatov developed into a world-class striker at Bayer 04. The Bulgarian celebrates his 40th birthday on this Saturday.

Bayer 04 wish him many happy returns: Happy birthday, Berbo. And we take a look back at one of the many special moments in his career.

The boy matured into a man at Leverkusen and, in an interview with bayer04.de, when he returned to the BayArena in May 2019 for the 40th Bundesliga anniversary of the club, he said: "That's why I still associate this city and the club with a sense of belonging."

He spent five and a half years at Leverkusen. Longer than at any other of his clubs. He made by far the most appearances (202) for the Werkself and scored the most goals (91). That included many exceptional and typical Berbatov strikes. It's actually incredible that only one of them was voted Goal of the Month. A goal, that he presented himself on his 21st birthday, was scored against 1860 Munich in the DFB Cup quarter-finals on 30 January 2002.

It was in the 66th minute. Michael Ballack hit a high ball from midfield to Ulf Kirsten on the edge of the box, the 'Schwatte' headed the ball towards the penalty spot where Berbo and his opponent Filip Tapalovic both attempted an overhead kick at the same time. The Bulgarian just got to the ball first and hit it over the keeper Simon Jentzsch into the back of the net. What a goal! 1-0 to Bayer 04. Seven minutes later, Berbo struck for a second time and Thomas Brdaric rounded off the scoring at 3-0. Before that, in the second round of the competition, Berbatov scored all three goals in a 3-2 win at Bochum. He also scored a goal in the final against Schalke 04 (2-4). The Bulgarian’s star was on the rise in that incredible season of 2001/02. He began to follow in the big footsteps of Ulf Kirsten.

In his final season at Bayer 04, where he played in all 34 Bundesliga games, scoring 21 goals and providing nine assists, Berbatov had already attracted the attention of top international clubs. His transfer to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2006 was his next career move and that was followed by Manchester United, where he celebrated his biggest successes, Fulham, AS Monaco, PAOK Saloniki and finally the last adventure with the Kerala Blasters in India. He officially retired from the game in the autumn of 2019.

But he is still involved in football. Just before his 40th birthday, Dimitar Berbatov started his coaching career: Since the middle of January of this year, he is the striker coach at the Bulgarian top-flight club Etar Veliko Tarnovo. According to the head coach Alex Tomas, he will "work free of charge to get the experience he needs."

We wish you every success and all the best, Berbo.