Eleven years. It’s been eleven years since Cologne managed to beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen in a compulsory match. And if I had any say in it? It will remain that way.

Stats & Figures: Bayer won the last 6 out of 7 matches against Cologne (1 draw). Out of the 23 away matches against Leverkusen, Cologne only managed to win 3. Spanning this and last season, Bayer 04 lost 4 of 6 home matches and didn’t draw for the last 12 matches.

Trivia: Cologne’s head boy Christoph Daum coached Bayer 04 Leverkusen from July 1996 to October 2000 and lead the team to three runner up positions in the championship.

During his last season as a professional football player (2002/03), Bruno Labbadia managed to get red carded in both matches against Cologne in the kit of Karlsruhe.

6 regular players of Bayer 04 Leverkusen + 3 substitutes are actually living in Cologne.

Both Simon Rolfes and Patrick Helmes scored their first Bundesliga goals during the last derby in September 2005 - Rolfes for Bayer 04, Helmes for Cologne.

It’s Derby Time. Hopefully, the rivalry between the clubs will remain on the pitch again. It’s always been like that, and I hope it’s going to stay like that. Even though the population of both cities are basically breathing their clubs.

My hope: Both teams are quite strong. Bayer’s got Kießling and Helmes (and Adler), Cologne’s got Novakovic. A draw is quite possible because derbies have laws of their own …

today, Angela Merkel announced which cities in Germany are going to host the FIFA Womens’ World Cup in 2011.

That’s what it’s supposed to like. The new BayArena and Wolfgang Holzhäuser’s pride. With that in mind, Leverkusen applied for the World Cup since the new BayArena is supposed to be the most modern arena in Europe.

And now, that dream’s come true and we’re all looking foward to repeat the summer fairytale of 2006.

The new BayArena will be christened on Septemeber 5th 2009 with an international friendly between Germany and South Africa.

Sorry for the lack of updates but exams are coming up. Come September, you’ll get more of this blog.

Now. There are some folks who just can’t get enough. In some cases that’s a bad thing. In the case of Carsten Ramelow it’s a very good thing.

Officially, Carsten Ramelow ended his career last season due to a persistent knee injury. He was seen off with all honours our former skipper deserved by everyone, and he was to be integrated into the staff behind the scenes of Bayer 04.

Now, he’s about to come back for Bayer 04 II, and very confident about his physique, saying that “it’s working out fine”. Of course, with his expirience he’s a great addition to the team and can show the youngsters a thing or two. And who knows? Maybe before too long, the first team of Bayer 04 will have their former captain back. I definitely hope so. We could use his experience and his ability to rattle some bones on the field.

Take care & have a nice weekend!

Ines

just when things started to settle down …

René Adler will miss the first match of the season and the international match against Belgium next Wednesday due to a shoulder injury. It’s not yet determined how long he’ll be out.

Ah well. Nothing that can be done about that. In Benne Fernandez we trust. Benne already had to keep the goal for Adler three times last season. All three matches were won, and he manged to keep a clean sheet in two of them. That’s what I call a good omen.

I’m very curious, though, if and whom Jogi Loew is going to call up as a sub.

Take care.

But it also gives me some reason to put some attention on our goalkeeper. As if he weren’t getting enough of that already anyways …

René Adler. Who is that? Some one and a half years ago, most people would’ve looked at you and flipped you the bird. Well, ‘cept for the insiders and the screaming fangirls of course. Then came Schalke, his brilliant saves against Stuttgart with even Timo Hildebrand in awe and admiration, and that was that.

It’s quite obvious to everyone who dares to look behind his smiles and confidence which he displays in interviews that he’s extremely ambitious. He’s got a quick and hot temper which rivals that of Olli Kahn … Stop. Rewind that. Olli Kahn? Yupp, you read that right. Elbow-check against Sofian Chahed (which he should’ve gotten red-carded for)? Choking Andrej Voronin? Lifting Arturo Vidal up and shaking him? Yes, that is the other René Adler. The new titan, as some folks like to call him.

I could give you statistics. I could give you stuff that he said in interviews. I could do that. But that won’t give you an inkling of what that man is. For that? You have to look on the pitch. His passion, his ambition, his instincts … That’s what makes him what he is - the favourite for the position between Germany’s goalposts. Making that impossible save against Maik Franz; appearing out of nowhere against Roberto Hilbert when he was already beaten; going where it hurts.

Will he be able to do it? Most likely. Will he make it? Good question. Fact is. He is one of the best goal keepers in Germany and if he stays injury free during the season (okay, if he will take care of himself since that’s something he usually doesn’t do) … he is a candidate. There are other ones to consider, like Manuel Neuer, Michael Rensing, and - of course! - Robert Enke and Timo Hildebrand. But if the brat continues to do what we have come to expect from him? There won’t be any way around him. Seriously.

Cheers everyone & have a nice weekend!

my name’s Ines, and I’ll be your conductor for this blog. Don’t ask me how someone born and raised in the middle of Bavaria came around to support Bayer 04 Leverkusen. I look upon the boys as I would look upon a brother who was suddenly there, grating on my nerves, but whom I love without condition.

And as it so happens, I come bearing good news with my first entry.

It was the shock of last season when Bernd Schneider was diagnosed with a slipped disc right before the EC. Some people even said that Schnix’ drop-out for the rest of the season was one of the main reasons Bayer 04 didn’t make into the international playground this year.

Though I certainly value Schnix as one of the key players for Bayer 04, I’d like to disagree on that, but that’s a totally different story.

However, as of today, Bernd Schneider is in rehab and on his way back. Personally I think this will give the extra boost that they need, knowing that the white Brazilian, as people like to call him, is coming back. While the boys are definitely capable of compensating his skill on the field, they need his experience, his leadership and knowledge to grow into the team Bruno Labbadia wants them to be, to live up to the expectations the fans and the football world seems to have in them.

So, it’s definitely good that he’s on his way back and I can’t wait to see him playing again and show that one deadly pass that will decide a match in our favour.

Cheers everyone!