The semi-finals of the German Cup take place this week and feature four of this season’s success stories: Schalke face Eintracht Frankfurt on Wednesday night but first, in-form Bayer Leverkusen welcome Bayern Munich.
And ahead of the visit of the newly-crowned Bundesliga champions, Leverkusen manager Heiko Herrlich is channelling legendary British ski jumper Eddie “The Eagle” Edwards for inspiration.
“Eddie was a typical loser,” he told Kicker magazine, “but he had that one quality that many don’t have: Eddie had the will.”
Ahead of last week’s trip to RB Leipzig, Herrlich said he showed his players a clip from the 2016 film about the ski jumper where Finnish champion Matti Nykänen tells Eddie: “It’s about giving our all. That calms our soul. If we don’t manage that, it’s as if we’ve died inside.”
“Even if the scene is fictional, I like message,” said Herrlich. “We can only be satisfied if we’ve tried absolutely everything, and Eddie had that desire.”
Still, reducing Herrlich’s success at Leverkusen season to mere motivation would be a disservice to the 46-year-old. After a disappointing bottom-half Bundesliga finish last season, Herrlich has led Leverkusen back into contention for the Champions League this season with an explosive brand of attacking football which has drawn admirers across Germany.
Only Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund have scored more league goals this season while Leverkusen have underlined their potency with back-to-back 4-1 wins over fellow Champions League contenders RB Leipzig and Eintracht Frankfurt in recent weeks.
Striker Kevin Volland took his tally for the season to 14 with a hat-trick against Frankfurt on Saturday, while Jamaican starlet Leon Bailey has been one of the league’s stand-out performers.
The kids are alright
Most importantly, Bailey’s performances have underlined the message that young players don’t just get a chance in Leverkusen; they can succeed too. At just 18, Kai Havertz is the youngest ever player to reach 50 Bundesliga appearances while Julian Brandt’s recent contract extension was a huge coup.
“I can see that something good is growing here,” said the 21-year-old German international, who had been the subject of interest from Bayern Munich.
“Players can see that Bayer Leverkusen stands for consistency,” added sporting director Jonas Boldt. “Here, we give young players the opportunity to play and develop."
Nevertheless, inexplicable collapses against the likes of relegation candidates Cologne (0-2) and mid-table Hertha Berlin (0-2) show that there is still work to be done. Leverkusen’s two league meetings with Bayern Munich this season resulted in 1-3 defeats, results which Herrlich is using as a barometer of his team’s progress:
“Hopefully we’ll play them again this season,” he said after defeat at the BayArena in January. “By that point, we hope to be in a position to beat them.”
Reaching a first German cup final since 2009 will be a huge task, but they could hardly be in a better position. Like Eddie The Eagle, the desire is there – but Leverkusen must now prove that they have the quality to beat the very best.
