Brdaric remembers
Thomas Brdaric is “still a bit” concerned about the matter. On this Saturday 20 years ago, May 15, 2002, the striker with Bayer 04 Leverkusen not only left the field as a loser in probably the greatest moment in the club’s history, Brdaric was also substituted very early on because: “The top moeller had a problem Idea.” In an interview with Transfermarkt, the ex-professional remembered the bitter evening, the 2-1 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
Leverkusen’s Champions League final: This Bayer team played against Real in 2002
Brdaric assures: “I’m over it”, although of course not only this one missed final gnawed at the Bayer pros, who were subsequently called “runners-up”. “Everything went like a picture book that year. We had enough lead in the league, we were in the DFB Cup final, then the Champions League final was the icing on the cake. But it wasn’t enough to win the icing on the cake.” The Werkself also gambled away the other two titles shortly before the end. “Somewhere we ran out of breath physically and mentally on the home straight,” summarizes Brdaric, who became a national player in 2002.
Bayer Leverkusen’s Champions League final with Brdaric: Click here for the match report
The club doctor “gave the striker an injection” in 2002, as he says. That’s why the Nürtinger’s season was a rollercoaster ride anyway, because the substance was on the red list. Brdaric was forced to take a four-week break. Bitter because he was “at the absolute peak performance”. “I’m not saying that we didn’t win a title just because I wasn’t allowed to play for four weeks,” jokes Brdaric, but stressed that he would have wished coach Klaus Toppmöller had been more patient in the Champions League final. “It’s also part of being calm as a coach.” Basically, Brdaric is grateful to the coach. He says: “Toppmöller gave me a lot of support that year and often helped me. He accompanied me in such a way that it also brought me a step forward, and he played a big part in my becoming a national player. It’s not our fault that the doctor messed things up back then.”
Nevertheless, who likes to be taken off the field in the first half. He didn’t hurt himself. Brdaric was treated briefly. In his opinion, it cannot have been the reason for the substitution. At that time only three substitutions were allowed, and Toppmöller brought his first joker after about 40 minutes: Berbatov came on for Brdaric. “With the change, certain things were blocked for the second half,” says the substitute. “Coaches sometimes have their own ideas.”
Brdaric: One of the best Bayer teams in 2002 “in terms of value for money”.
Toppmöller’s idea brought no profit. On the contrary. While the Bayer team were still level after Lúcio’s equalizer in the 14th minute, which followed Raúl’s opening goal (9th), Zinédine Zidane scored five minutes after Brdaric’s substitution to make it 2-1 for the “Royals”. Leverkusen could not catch up against the Real stars.
Was there a better Bayer team after the 2002 final? Brdaric sees it pragmatically: “In terms of value for money, it was definitely one of the best put together teams. After that it got more and more expensive, but not much better. Whereby Rudi Völler (sporting director again from 2005, ed.) also managed to bring Leverkusen back into the top 3 of the Bundesliga.”
Gallery: The legendary team from Bayer Leverkusen 2001/02
In 2002, despite the actually sensational final participation, the Bayer pros didn’t feel like celebrating after the defeat, as Brdaric recalls. In the Hotel Lohmann, the team hotel at the time, the vanquished sat “devastated, just looked at us, discussed a bit. Everything was prepared to celebrate, but it didn’t get that far.
After separation from Vllaznia
Coach Brdaric back in GermanyTo the interview
Brdaric finds it disrespectful that Bayer 04, who have only finished second in the league and cup competitions nine times since winning the DFB Cup in 1993, have since been derided as perennially second. In Albania, as a coach, he celebrated winning the Albanian Cup with Vllaznia in 2021 and says: “I know everything that has to fit to win a title. The bottom line is that everything has to fit. And in Leverkusen almost everything was just right.”
The 9 titles missed by Bayer 04 “Vizekusen” since 1993
Colleague Berbatov on the final: “How are we supposed to beat these guys?”
While Brdaric claims today that he hadn’t given the star players of the “White Ballet” any thought at all, his colleague Dimitar Berbatov was obviously more in awe. A while ago, the striker, who came on for Brdaric, recalled in an interview in England how “unfortunate” they had failed at the favourite.
Bayer history
The performance in the cup and European cupTo overview
“Leverkusen!” said Berbatov two years ago. He laughed, shook his head. “We beat Liverpool, we beat Manchester United and in the end we came so close to beating Real Madrid too because we played without fear. They had Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Roberto Carlos – all these big, big players. I looked at them and thought, how are we supposed to beat these guys? Fernando Hierro was a giant for me. But we played well and lost unluckily in the end.”
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