First league, then cup: Bayer 04 are double winners!

"German cup winners - SVB!" rang out at 22:05. They've done it! In the last competitive match of a historic 2023/24 season, the Werkself also ascended to the throne in the DFB Pokal having won the Bundesliga title. Immediately after the final whistle, the Bayer 04 players ran towards their fans, jumping and putting their arms around each other. The black-and-red party was immediately in full swing!

"German cup winners - svb!"

After the jubilant runs, or rather jubilant sprints, from corner to corner, the Werkself naturally formed a guard of honour for the Kaiserslautern team, who had put up a great fight against the German champions. And then THE moment had come: one by one, the Leverkusen players stepped onto the winners' podium and Jeremie Frimpong gave the trophy its first kiss. When almost all of them were finally ready, first double-winning coach Xabi Alonso and shortly afterwards double-winning captain Lukas Hradecky stepped onto the podium. The goalkeeper accepted the DFB Pokal - and lifted it into the Berlin night sky at 22:22!

Now everyone was allowed to touch the trophy and kiss, hug and lift it up in the now completely red-coloured Olympiastadion. ‘We are the Champions!’ rang out, the obligatory winners' photo was taken under the ‘DFB Pokal Winners 2024’ arch - and then it was finally time to take the trophy to the Leverkusen end! The party with the fans, who have played just as big a part in the team's success this season, was extensive. "German cup winners - SVB!"

And the celebrations continued: Hradecky led the players and fans into a joint song - "Double winners, double winners - hey, hey!" For the first time in the club's 120-year history. A fitting end to Bayer 04 Leverkusen's most successful season.

Xhaka brilliant - werkself smart

In front of 74,322 fans at a sold-out and rocking Olympiastadion, Granit Xhaka sent the Bayer 04 contingent wild just after the quarter-hour mark with a stunning long-range strike to make it 1-0. The Werkself largely dominated proceedings after that but were unable to extend their lead. The first half ended with Odilon Kossounou being shown a second yellow card. After the restart, the German champions saw out the game with control and experience, and there was no taking the DFB Pokal title from them!

past vfb and fortuna en route to berlin

The Werkself's journey to the DFB Pokal crown began in mid-August of last year, with the first round and the first competitive match of the season against Regionalliga outfit FC Teutonia 05 Ottensen. An 8-0 drubbing in Hamburg was followed by a 5-2 win at third-tier side SV Sandhausen in early November and then a 3-1 victory at home to Bundesliga 2 side SC Paderborn in early December. In February of this year, the Werkself came out on top in a pulsating clash against VfB Stuttgart thanks to a late strike, setting up a semi-final against second-division Fortuna Düsseldorf, which Bayer 04 won 4-0 in April to reach the club's fifth cup final. And the story that our double winners wrote at the Berlin Olympiastadion on 25 May 2024 will of course remain in the minds of all of you forever...