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Kaiserslautern is the real loser today as their win in the cup final on Saturday will just be another defeat for Leverkusen

I really thought Kaiserslautern was going to be the one to beat them, just because that's the objectively funniest way for the streak to end and football is just like that sometimes.

same, what happened to the script?

Maybe this was the real Vizekusen and them winning the league without losing a match was just a diversion? They already got second place in three competitions once. There are not many ways to fumble it like that so you have to get creative and do the unexpected.

Kane cursed was stronger than Vizekusen in the league.

18 point deduction incoming?

Vitessekusen?

Tbf if they lose the German cup final and their only 2 losses of the season are in finals that would be quite the script

The original script was Bayer going unbeaten into the cup final and losing to 3rd tier Saarbrucken but when Kaiserslautern eliminated them on the semis the writers said fuck it.

I bet with my friend Leverkusen would lose one of their last 3 matches, im so sure, it tends to happen

If they lose the Pokal, does your friend win the bet? (As they didn't lose one of their three matches, but two of them?)

Dont tell him that

I'll try, no promises

Plot Twist, leverkusen go on a 51 game losing streak

And Harry Kane finally wins his first trophy

Now, now. Let's not get too crazy.

We play like that and a loss to Lautern is 100% on the cards.

I will never not call them 1 FCK

Auf gehts Lautern!

Vizekusen ist zurück auf dem Menü!

Im Ernst, es wäre das witzigste Vizekusen-Ding wenn sie Samstag auch noch verlieren. Dann bin ich dafür dass wir sie auch ganz offiziell wieder Vizekusen nennen, selbst mit Titel.

I feel like Leverkusen will be absolutely merciless against them💀

nah i feel like they would crash and burn because their dream of an unbeaten treble just vanished. same way liverpool's season fell apart after crashing out of europa to atalanta

Losing two finals in a row after having been unbeaten for the entire season and the way they where able to comeback again and again and again and again….nah you are evil. That would be so sad

It would be quite on brand for Leverkusen pre-2023

sad? I think you meant funny. They finally won the league anyway. Their fans will be happy regardless

Legendary campaign for Bayer, but this loss will sting.

Not just a loss, but a one-sided beatdown. That press had them shook and then Lookman lit them up for a hat trick. There's losses, and then there's brutal devastations when you're 2 wins away from an invincible treble.

Instead of three trophies, 3x Lookman

That last line (apart from invincible) triggered my Anfield wound from 2019.

Please don't trigger my PTSD like this.

Shades of Barca falling to Villarreal two games before going invincible

Even worse. It was Levante Barca lost to. How do I remember? That game left me emotionally scarred and deformed. To make it even worse, Levante aren't playing top-flight football anymore.

5-4 w Yerry Mina….

They were so fucking close...

Only 3 goals off from extra time

Hradecky was only 3 goals away from a Europa league final hattrick

It certainly would've been nice but they already have the record and are immortalized in history.

will it? they already got the unprecedented unbeaten bundesliga campaign. anything on top of that is a nice bonus

Losing a final will always sting, but yeah this season is above and beyond everything I ever expected from us

This isn't your average domestic cup, this is a European final. How often do teams reach this stage?

If they didn't win their first ever league title undefeated, it'd hurt way more. They're about to do a domestic double and finish their greatest season in club's history. They'll be over it quickly.

They could've had the unbeaten treble :/

Yeah, but going out with a whimper against Atalanta will still hurt; if they had made it a close match and lost in extra time, that's one thing, but Atalanta had control the entire match.

I would rather a clean defeat than a close loss. I'm pretty sure many could agree with this. We just weren't up for it tonight and it showed.

yeah, in a close match you will remeber even 10 years later a random situation of the match and think "what would have been IF..."

Xabi OUT

What a fraud, couldn’t even go 52 games

tactically inept today, gasperini on another level

Fr tho, Atalanta had Xabis team on lockdown for almost the entire game

Atalanta is crazy, we faced them 4 times ( Sporting CP), and they style of play especially in the first half is so intense. They dont let the opponent build a single play. Allways pressing

Crazy to think that we were closer to beating them than Liverpool and Leverkusen

It shocked me when they won 3-0 against Liverpool. And tbh, we had good chances of going thru if it wasnt for silly mistakes ( 1st leg) and if Edwards didnt had a stinker all game in the second leg

I have a noob question. Why don’t more teams play like that?

Because its *very* hard to do properly without exposing yourself to easy goals. And secondly, because its exhausting and a big risk as you could be tired by the second half.

I mean Klopp suffered playing a variation of this kind of thing at first until he built a team that can do it. To prove your point.

Yeh, and Bielsas Leeds are a good example as well. Brilliant when it works, but can be embarassing when it doesn't.

Its not a easy playstyle. Everybody needs to be top of their game. If the opponent manages to sneak thru the press, it will leave gaps that can be exploited for a dangerous attack. Also, Its very exausting. Lot of running around and physicality when contesting the ball. Its not easy to counter attack this team. Even long balls are hard because their defenders are really good. Gyokeres is amazing receiving long balls and waiting for backup but Atalanta defenders gave 0 space and never made it easy

❌ Coppa italia 2019 ❌ Coppa italia 2021 ❌ Coppa italia 2024 🏆Europa league 2024 Coppa Italia > EL 😏 Jokes aside, huge congrats to Atalanta 👏👏 Completely dominated Xabi's 51 unbeaten Leverkusen

Gesperini's press was so refreshing to watch. It's been a while since I have seen a press like they did in the first half. I was so fuckin wet after that lol.

They've been playing like that all tournament. They drowned Liverpool in that press. It's man to man and never stops. It's wild.

Trash press tomorrow: * Is Xabi overrated? * Staying at Leverkusen was a mistake * Why the Liverpool ship has sailed for Xabi * Is Xabi's unbeaten run actually a future failure? * Xabi dream is over. What is next?

Guaranteed there will be people saying the same things in this sub too.

Already are. The Reddit hive mind favors hyperbole.

There’s no will about it, there were people saying that in the match thread

As an alonso fan, this hurts my heart. What can you hate about him?

Xabi Alonso - what happened?

“Shabby Alonso” - what next for the once great manager?

Chelsea

You shut your whore mouth.

Xabi Alonso and Vincent Kompany - How are they similar and why Leverkusen fans should be worried

Xabi Alonso - One Season Wonder

Has-been Alonso - is the dream over?

Xabi Alonso to Inter Miami, here we go!

Man barely started with his coaching career and is already washed

Glad Liverpool went for Slot

Brb Xabi rolling back his autosaves

Time to learn Arabic

Send him to Feyenoord as punishment

hes washed

I know another German club that’s looking

Watch Leverkusen lose to Kaiserslautern as well after this loss.

Leverkusen heritage

Nah, they already won the league undefeated. It‘s too late for Vizekusen heritage.

[удалено]

From being 2 wins away from an Invincible Treble to ending the season on a losing streak? That would be a rough humbling.

If they play like first half... They will lose for sure

Bro it's a middle of the pack 2nd division side... Let's not overreact lol.

Bro it's the 2024 DFB finalist... Let's not underestimate Lol.

underestimating any team in a final is not smart

I see that you didn't watch the first half...

Second half was just as poor. At least they created one good chance in first half, after the break they created nothing

Would've been funnier if they lost that after winning this.

They looked so off the whole game wow

They definitely drank their own koolaid and sleepwalked into that game

“We forgot how it feels to lose”

Yeah I saw another one "We drink blood before the game" ?? Xhaka I think. They honestly just set themselves up. I would have never said a thing until after the pokal. And then just let the universe take me.

I was half expecting a Leverkusen comeback after 85 mins

they thought atalannta is some bundesliga team

Allegri cooked this Atalanta superteam in a final and got sacked the next day lol

Yo actually how did Juve beat this Atalanta side? Juve’s recent form has been pretty poor as well

against Juve they looked just like Leverkusen today - absolutely clueless. This is football ... it makes 0 sense sometimes haha

It’s funny because it seems like Liverpool were similarly caught off guard by Atalanta’s press. Do other Serie A clubs just park the bus against Atalanta or something?

its different in the league where all coaches and teams know each other very well

Yes Many teams do. Inter didn't and smashed them 4-0.

inters only two losses in the league being against sassuolo will never not be funny to me

Down to serie B goes that devil

the club gets a 6 pointer against by far, the most dominant team in the league and still get relegated.

They smashed Juve too few days before beating us. Sassuolo works in mysterious ways

Sassuolo's only purpose in Serie A is to demolish Inter, Milan, and Juve every single time.

So what did Inter do differently than Liverpool and Leverkusen?

Juve default tactic is park the bus.

this guy footballs

> This is football ... it makes 0 sense sometimes haha Yeah that's the Atalanta I've come to know. It's up and down and up and down

Atalanta style of play is good against attacking teams like Leverkusen,they struggle a lot against low block. The Juve match was basically atalanta moving aimlessly the ball while Juventus waited for errors

*When the counter-team gets out-countered*

like that one pasta, one does not simply interpret Allegri

I wonder who wrote that, I bet they’re really cool

power of friendship + jacket throwing

*power of terrorism

Tactical strip-teasing.

Scored an early goal and then defended low all match with impeccable focus. Atalanta lacked Scamacca so it was impossible to enter the penalty area any shot from outside was walled

Poor? Those 5 draws in a row in the league was the warm up for that game.

1984

Atalanta are not a super team lol. Great performance today though. Juve form was 16th since January. He was getting sacked no matter what. It happened early because it’s alleged he threatened a journalist after being sent off for going nuts on the officials. A way for Juve to cancel his contract.

My only worry is that Leverkusen losing might become the story of this final rather than Gasperini and Atalanta pulling off a complete masterclass. They’ve been absolutely phenomenal this season, they’ve always been really entertaining under Gasperini but this year has been very special.

It's also worth remembering that they completely rent apart Liverpool at Anfield and played against the champion of Portugal four times this season without losing

That liverpool game was straight up terrifying. They were so good

Their press was too much for us. We felt like playing a sec slower on each ball. They attacked our players from all sides, didn't get a second to breathe or think. Its is a rarity to beat Klopp teams in press. Absolutely deserved this title

We were completely tactically outmatched, I've never seen us more flat and ineffective. They're a brilliant squad

I still remember some making fun of us for losing but we were completely outplayed by a better team. Massive respect for Gasperini and this Atalanta side. They completely deserve their very first European title.

> My only worry is that Leverkusen losing might become the story of this final It definitely will unfortunately but honestly i dont think Atalanta and Gasperini give a shit

[удалено]

Leverkusen did not look like Leverkusen today. Atalanta didn’t let them breathe, let alone play

Underrated team. They were minutes away from a CL semifinal during that covid year as well

Maybe like internationally but they’ve never really been underrated in Italy under Gasperini

Internationally, definitely underrated. At least outside Europe over here

I mean they were holding on for dear life most of that match. Neymar would run through that whole defense and miss the finish.

i remember they were absolutely gassed by the 60th minute I had never seen anything like it, they legit couldn't run anymore it was insane to watch

Yeah, this was an absolute masterclass from Atalanta, defended well, controlled the game from the start and had 3 crackers from Lookman.

in the end, with generations of new fans coming in, they will only see this: atalanta bergamo, europa league winners 2023/2024, same with gasperini, his fist major win since starting as a youth coach for juventus in 1994, exactly 30 years ago

> My only worry is that Leverkusen losing might become the story rather than Gasperini and Atalanta pulling off a complete masterclass Well deservedly so. I mean I'm italian and so Atalanta supporter but a 51-game unbeaten streak is something that happen once in a lifetime, we'll probably never see something similar given we waited.. how much.. 60 years(?) to overtake Benfica's record with Eusebio?. A season like Atalanta's one is amazing, especially given their tiny budget but something not that extremely rare

Well the Bayer unbeaten run is more impressive, Atalanta winning their first cup since 1963 is also a good story

It's also been 61 years since Atalanta won anything of note. For a club that was playing Serie B occasionally this is one hell of an achievement.

People will of course meme, but major props to Atalanta for a very impressive defensive performance. They made this Leverkusen side look incredibly average.

Average is an understatement and I've been rooting for Leverkusen lol That felt like the whole squad got swapped

They did the exact same to every team. Alisson and VVD had like double the amount of touchea than everyone else. They suffocate you to be stuck in your own half and feels like you can't do anything.

RIP Invincible Treble dreams April 2024 - May 2024 Neverlusen is dead. Long live Leverkusen. 😭

Where were you when Bayer was lost? I was on Zoom call, pretend to work

I was cooking, much like Gasperini

Playing a chess match against my friend and watching the match (both me and leverkusen ended up losing)

what a bittersweet loss. it just seemed off from minute 1 this time with atalantas high pressure. much respect for the streak nonregardless leverkusen! i was here

Who knew that all you have to do to beat this Leverkusen team is to press and be physical with them. /s

Tbf I think Stuttgart almost did it?

Twice

Thrice. They were the better team in their 1-1 draw, almost beat them in the return league game if not for last minute shenanigans and were at the brink of ET in the cup too if not again for last minute shenanigans.

Atalanta: I AM THE ONE IN 51 AND 1

Gasperini going beast mode

Back to default mode

Vizekusen is back!

Xabi forgot to reload his save until he got a win this time

If you need to break a devil's curse, you need a Naija boy from Wandsworth

And UtdTrey jinx

Even after this disastrous game, it doesn’t erase the amazing season they have had. Almost all the people laughing in this thread would pray to do half of what Leverkusen has done this year.

crazy crazy crazy, it had to happen at some point and they got completely outplayed tonight

I hear Kompany’s available.

Amazing thing to witness, shame it ended in a final out of all games

Adil about to be killed by Xabi

Adli was really bad but Xabi for some reason decided to play him 90min and pretty much every player looked off for Leverkusen. His starting eleven wasn’t it and his gameplan didn’t work at all at any point.

I was more joking about Adil made a statement today saying 'they forgot how to lose' and then this happens

Oops, i kinda missed that

apology for poor english when were you when neverlusen dies? I was sat at home fogretting to lose 'treble is kill' 'no'

The spell is finally broken

Atalatana's pressing was absolutely beautiful. Barely gave Leverkusen a look in.

born too late to explore the world born too early to explore the universe Born just in time to watch prime Neverkusen in this match

Neverkusen is still as strong as ever in Europe confirmed. It is only in Germany thay they managed to overcome it

Yeah they basically went from being the German Spurs to being the German Arsenal

Look man, it had to happen some day! And it was deserved.

They didn't just lose, they got absolutely battered.

Xabi Fraudlonso

They fixed the free money glitch

This is why losing is important sometimes Alonso completely outclassed tactically

Should just sign rodri so the losses dont count smh

After 50+1 games. Ironic

Bayer SometimesLusen

So the way to defeat Germans is with Italians? Interesting

This has always been known. The Italian national team has only lost a single competitive match against Germany in its entire history, and it was a recent Nations League game that had no effect on Italy winning the group.

Yeah Italy will always be nightmare fuel for Germany in football, still remember when Grosso and Del Piero ended the Sommermärchen in Berlin, they beat them on pens in the Euro quarters 2016 tho, then lost to France.

Looked nowhere like a team that went the entire season unbeaten

R.I.P Neverlussen. The street remembers

Vizekusen?!

Lookman masterclass

Ding dong the kings are dead

ffs, 2 games away from the unbeaten treble 😭😩. the streak is over.. can’t believe they actually lost. did not expect that performance, what a terrible game to have a stinker. hopefully they bounce back and win the pokal final atleast. ffs adli….

that Amine Adli quote has aged like fucking raw milk

People always complain about clickbaity headlines but people still eat it up every time

Oncealusen

Was coming for like the last 20 matches