Double success - Over 40,000 Leverkusen supporters celebrate their team at the BayArena.
About 40,000 enthusiasts fêted the victorious Bayer Leverkusen squad at the BayArena. Upon their return from Berlin, the players and coach Xabi Alonso first scribbled their names into Leverkusen's celebrated Golden Book, then climbed into the back of an open truck to travel to the stadium. Thousands of ecstatic fans cheered them on along the way. Following their historic first-time German soccer championship win, Bayer clinched the DFB Cup on Saturday with a decisive 1-0 victory in the final against 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
At five o'clock sharp, Alonso, team captain Lukas Hradecky, and defender Jonathan Tah led the team out of the player's tunnel and into the stadium, where Hradecky wielded the ‘Meisterschale’ (championship trophy), and Tah donned the DFB Cup. Alonso, positioned in-between the two, made his grand entrance amidst pouring rain while the stadium roared with the US band Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Don't stop" playing in the background.
As a co-commentator for WDR, seasoned Bayer goalkeeper Rüdiger Vollborn momentarily choked up. Vollborn verbalized his deep-rooted dreams of this triumphant day where the team finally had something solid to show for their hard work. The 61-year-old was a member of the team that triumphed in the 1988 UEFA Cup and serves the club as a fan representative and club archivist.
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The triumphant celebration continued in North Rhine-Westphalia's BayArena, with Germany being proud to host Bayer Leverkusen, the new German soccer champions. Jonathan Tah, a prominent player on the team, joined Alonso and Hradecky in leading the charge out of the tunnel. Despite the rain, the stadium echoed with the energetic sounds of Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Don't stop" as they celebrated their DFB Cup win. Fans of Bayer 04 Leverkusen not only filled the BayArena but also lined the streets, cheering on their heroes all the way. The city of Leverkusen was filled with excitement and joy, as the team had truly made history.
Source: www.stern.de
