May 15, 2002: Real Madrid defeat Bayer Leverkusen of Germany, 2-1 at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, and win the UEFA Champions League. It is the 9th time that they have won this tournament, formerly known as the European Cup – more than any other club. But they haven’t won it since.
Their goals were appropriately scored by their two greatest players of the modern era, hometown hero Raul Gonzalez (usually known by just his first name) and French superstar Zinedine Zidane. They led a team of superstars known as "Los Galácticos," including Spaniards Iker Casillas, Guti and Míchel Salgado; Portuguese star Luís Figo (previously playing for arch-rival Barcelona), black Frenchman Claude Makélélé, and Englishman Steve McManaman, the former Liverpool star who is now a pundit for ESPN.
Real Madrid had built one of the greatest teams in the history of world club soccer. But this game is less remarkable for its winner than it is for its loser. Bayer Leverkusen, based in Leverkusen on the east bank of the Rhine River in western Germany, and founded by the Bayer pharmaceutical company, had failed in all three of its major competitions. In one of the closest races in the history of the Bundesliga, Germany's national league, Borussia Dortmund had defeated Bayer by 1 point, and Bayern Munich by 2 points.
Their manager was Klaus Toppmöller, a former star forward at FC Kaiserlautern, who helped the Dallas Tornado win the 1973 North American Soccer League title. He had previously managed top-flight sides, including Eintracht Frankfurt. His players included goalkeeper Hans-Jörg Butt; midfielders Michael Ballack, Zé Roberto from Brazil, Marko Babić from Croatia; forward Dimitar Berbatov from Bulgaria; and an American, right back Frankie Hejduk.
Leverkusen had a stretch from December 1, 2001 to February 6, 2022 where they lost 5 out of 7. But where they really lost the title came late, with a 1-1 draw away to Hamburger SV on April 13, a 2-1 loss at home to Werder Bremen on April 20, and a 1-0 loss away to FC Nürnberg on April 27. Given their superior goal difference to Dortmund (but not Bayern), just 1 more goal in any of those 3 games would have given Leverkusen the title.
If Leverkusen could win on the final day, May 4, while Dortumund did not, that would also have given Leverkusen the title. Bayer did their part, beating Hertha Berlin, 2-1 in Leverkusen; but Dortmund beat Bremen, 2-1 in Dortmund, and that was it.
On May 11, at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, they lost the Final of the DFB-Pokal, 4-2 to Schalke 04. ("DFB" for "Deutscher Fußball-Bund," or "German Football Association," and "Pokal" for "Cup," so this is Germany's version of England's FA Cup.) Leverkusen led the game 1-0 before Schalke scored on the stroke of halftime.
In the Champions League, Leverkusen survived defeats to Juventus and Arsenal to advance from the Group Stage, and went back to England and defeated Liverpool in the Quarterfinal and Manchester United in the Semifinal. But, as with the Pokal, a goal right before halftime, in this case by Zidane, doomed them, putting Los Galácticos up, 2-1, and that would be the final score.
In a space of 12 days, Bayer Leverkusen went from having a chance at all 3 major trophies to having lost them all. Such a crash had never happened in Europe before, nor has it since. (In 1987, North London team Tottenham Hotspur were eligible for a domestic Treble as late as March 4 -- Football League, FA Cup, and League Cup -- and lost them all. But, for reasons that had nothing to do with them, they were ineligible for European play.)
Toppmöller managed Leverkusen 1 more season, then 1 at Hamburger, and 2 with the national team of Georgia. He has not managed any team since 2008, and has never won a trophy as a manager.
Hejduk would help the Columbus Crew win the 2008 MLS Cup. Ballack (with Real star Makélélé) later starred for Chelsea, and Berbatov for Manchester United. While Zé Roberto had previously helped Real Madrid win a La Liga title, would later help Bayern Munich win 4 Bundesliga titles, he was not selected for Brazil's World Cup team following Leverkusen's 2002 defeats. Brazil won that World Cup. This may not have been a coincidence.
Bayer Leverkusen had previously won the UEFA Cup, now the UEFA Europa League, in 1988; and the DFB-Pokal in 1993. Through the 2021-22 season, those remain their only major trophies. In 2000, they went into the last game of the Bundesliga season in 1st place, but lost 2-0, away to 10th-place Unterhaching, with Ballack scoring an own goal, and lost the title to Bayern Munich on goal difference. This has led to discussions of whether there is a "curse" on the club.
UPDATE: In 2023-24, they finally won their 1st Bundesliga title, and became the 1st team ever to do so undefeated: Played 34, won 28, drew 6, lost exactly none. And they beat Kaiserslautern for the DFB-Pokal, winning "The Double." If there was a curse on them, it was broken.
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May 15, 2002 was a Wednesday. These games were played in Major League Baseball:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 10-7 at Yankee Stadium. Joe Kennedy outpitched Orlando "El Duque" Hernández. Steve Cox went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. For the Yankees, Bernie Williams and Nick Johnson hit home runs, Johnson had 4 RBIs, and Derek Jeter went 1-for-4.
* The New York Mets beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Jeff D'Amico pitched a 2-hit shutout. Mo Vaughn hit a home run.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics, 8-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-1 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.
* The Seattle Mariners beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 8-6 at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base and an RBI.
* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
* The Anaheim Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-1 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
* The Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-4 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Todd Walker went 4-for-5 with an RBI. Ken Griffey Jr. was injured, and did not play.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 4-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 8-6 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.
* The Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-2 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.
* The Colorado Rockies beat the Florida Marlins, 7-2 at Coors Field in Denver.
* The San Diego Padres beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Ryan Klesko singled D'Angelo Jimenez home with the winning run in the bottom of the 14th inning.
* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 6-1 at Pacific Bell Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco. Greg Maddux outpitched Liván Hernández. Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 with a walk before leaving the game.
There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The New Jersey Nets beat the Charlotte Hornets, 103-95
at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.
There was also 1 game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs: The Colorado Avalanche beat the San jose Sharks, 1-0 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.
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