On Wednesday a new stadium will magically appear on the Dublin skyline, on time and on budget. It will look suspiciously similar to theallergic reaction to sponsorship that does not exclusively enrich them means that, for one night only, the Dublin Arena will come into existence to host thefinal. Ironically Bayer 04 Leverkusen are one of the few clubs able to circumvent Uefa prohibitions about sponsors featuring in club names.
In 1988 Leverkusen recovered from 3-0 down to Español after the first leg of the Uefa Cup final to win their only ever European trophy on penalties. In 2002, Leverkusen became the first club to reach a Champions League final without ever having won their domestic championship, but were narrowly beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid at Hampden Park thanks to an incredible volleyed goal by Zinedine Zidane.
Twenty months later, Leverkusen have won their first-ever league title having completed the only unbeaten season in Bundesliga history, and qualified for the finals of both the Europa League and the German Cup. Unsurprisingly, Alonso is now the most in-demand coach in world football, recently turning down offers to manage his former clubs as a player Liverpool and Bayern Munich.
Not that Leverkusen could be accused of buying success, with the club displaying a golden touch in the transfer market that would make King Midas jealous. The money spent last summer recruiting Nathan Tella, Victor Boniface and Granit Xhaka was recouped simply by selling Moussa Diaby to Aston Villa for €55 million.
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