Winning the first Bundesliga accidentally pushed Bayer Leverkusen into the difficult problem of finding a place to celebrate the victory with the fans.
On April 14, what Bayer Leverkusen fans thought could not happen happened: the home team won the Bundesliga for the first time. Coach Xabi Alonso and his team crushed Bremen 5-0 in round 29, thereby leading the tournament with 79 points and 16 points ahead of Bayern, a gap enough for them to be crowned five rounds early.
In addition to the Bundesliga, Bayer Leverkusen also reached the German Cup final and is about to enter the Europa League semi-finals. The possibility of winning the treble is gradually becoming clear. However, this also raises a big question: where will they celebrate their victory with their fans?
Traditionally, football teams often celebrate victories on the balcony of city hall. However, the problem is that Leverkusen town hall is integrated into a shopping mall and has no balcony.
According to Bild, Leverkusen can use one of two locations with balconies: the BayArena stadium bar and the former headquarters building of pharmaceutical company Bayer AG – the club’s owner – at Chempark.
The direct connection to BayArena is an advantage of the bar. However, this location has space problems if it has to welcome tens of thousands of fans. If they choose the old headquarters building of Bayer AG in Chempark, they will have to solve security issues. This place is located among many pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities so there are usually not many people gathering.
Bayer Leverkusen, Bayer AG and the city government have a few more weeks to decide on a location to celebrate the victory. Alonso and his team will end the Bundesliga on May 18, before playing the German Cup final against second-place team Kaiserslautern on May 25. If they reach the Europa League final, they will compete for the title on May 22.
“The balcony is not important for the victory celebration,” Leverkusen Mayor Uwe Richrath said on April 14. “We are in close contact with the club and are trying to plan everything well. I am sure we will organize a good event.”
Bayer Leverkusen won 2-0 against West Ham, in the quarter-final first leg of the Europa League at home. On April 18, the two teams will play the return match in England. If they reach the semi-finals, the new Bundesliga champion will meet the winner of the Roma – Milan pair. Roma won 1-0 in the quarter-final first leg at Milan’s San Siro stadium.
