COACH: Klaus TOPPMÖLLER




GOALKEEPERS:

01. Hans-Jörg BUTT
01. Adam MATYSEK

DEFENDERS:

02. Robert KOVAČ
03. Marko BABIĆ
05. Jens NOWOTNY
06. Boris ŽIVKOVIĆ
19. LÚCIO
28. Carsten RAMELOW
35. Diego Rodolfo PLACENTE

MIDFIELDERS:

07. Róbson PONTE
08. ZÉ ROBERTO
10. Yildiray BASTÜRK
10. ÉMERSON
13. Michael BALLACK
15. Jurica VRANJEŠ
22. Stefan BEINLICH
25. Bernd SCHNEIDER
26. Zoltán SEBESCEN

FORWARDS:

09. Ulf KIRSTEN
11. Paulo RINK
12. Dimitar BERBATOV
12. Thomas BRDARIĆ
27. Oliver NEUVILLE


Honours:

* Bundesliga: Runners-up: 1999–2000, 2001–02

* DFB-Pokal: Runners-up: 2001–02

* UEFA Champions League: Runners-up: 2002


INFO:

The Almost Champions

The team earned a series of top four finishes from 1997 to 2002 that included four second place finishes. The finishes of 2000 and 2002 were heart-breaking for supporters as on both occasions the team had the Bundesliga title within its grasp. In 2000, Bayer Leverkusen needed only a draw against Unterhaching to win the title, but an own goal by Ballack helped send the team to a crushing 2–0 defeat, while Bayern Munich clinched the title with a (3:1) victory over Werder Bremen. Two years later, the club surrendered a five point lead atop the league table by losing two of its last three matches while Borussia Dortmund swept ahead with three consecutive victories in its final matches. The 2002 season has been dubbed the "Treble Horror", as Bayer Leverkusen were also beaten 4–2 in the German Cup final by Schalke 04, and lost the UEFA Champions League final to Real Madrid by 2 goals to 1, which also led to some of the English language media dubbing them "Neverkusen". Still, the club entered the record books as the first team ever to reach the UEFA Champions League final without winning a national championship before. They even had to qualify first for the participation in that year's UEFA Champions League.


VIDEOS:

Coach's pic:



And a better team pic:


Standing: Butt, Brdarić, Lúcio, Ballack, Sebescen and Živković.
Bended: Baştürk, Ramelow, Schneider, Placente and Neuville.