One of the best Bundesliga seasons I can remember came to a disappointing end in Saturday’s DFB-Pokal final. 

While the league gave us two great stories with the rise and fall of Hoffenheim and the ultimate triumph of Wolfsburg, the Cup final was a damp affair.

In the two posts below, Erik Kirschbaum reflects on Werder Bremen’s victory in the frightened rabbit final, while Karolos Grohmann considers the record of Bayer ‘Neverkusen’.

Unless you happen to be a Werder Bremen fan, you’d probably agree with the rest of Germany that Werder’s 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen in Saturday’s Cup final made for a deflating end to the season.

Germans have a term for it: “Angsthasen Fussball” (scared rabbit football) — an appropriate description for a fear-filled struggle between two of Germany’s biggest underachievers this year, doing everything they could to avoid one last defeat before the holidays.

That was a shame because Werder and Leverkusen are both capable of lighting up the scoreboard when they stay true to their attacking styles.

I’m an unabashed fan of the “DFB Pokal” (German Cup) and the atmosphere for the final each May in Berlin’s Olympiastadion in the company of 70-odd thousand fans is something I really look forward to. (It’s a wonderful stadium when it’s sold out, which rarely happens for Hertha Berlin.)

The final two years ago between Nuremberg and then-Bundesliga champions Stuttgart, won 3-2 by Nuremberg in extra time, was a classic Cup final — arguably the match of the season. But the 2009 final was a real dud.

“We’re all deeply relieved,” said Bremen sporting director Klaus Allofs, whose team were considered among the pre-season favourites for the Bundesliga but finished 10th. “There would have been a very bitter after taste if we had also lost the German Cup final after losing the UEFA Cup final.”

Bremen’s fears were understandable after the pain of their defeat by Ukraine’s Shakhtar Donetsk in Istanbul and Bayer Leverkusen fans would have know just how they felt (see the post from Karolos below).

So Bremen fans got to chant “Bayer Vize-Kuzen” as they celebrated victory this was one occasion when it was really hard to say “the better team won”. More accurately, the better team managed not to lose.

AND THIS IS HOW THE WINNERS REACT: Werder keeper Tim Wiese celebrates his side’s German Cup final win over Bayer Leverkusen in Berlin, May 30, 2009. REUTERS/Tobias Schwarz

When Bayer Leverkusen, 1-0 down in the German Cup final against Werder Bremen, desperately poured forward in search of a late equaliser, somehow you knew there was no way they would turn this round.

They ended up losing another final on the same day their former midfielder Michael Ballack, who has also missed or lost everything there is to lose in football, including World Cup, European Championship and Champions League finals, was lifting the FA Cup with Chelsea after beating Everton.

But for Leverkusen it was more of the same bitter story of the past 12 years.

In 2002 they famously let slip a “treble”, losing in the Champions League final to Real Madrid, choking over the final three matches of the league to end up second to Borussia Dortmund and losing the German Cup final against Schalke.

Since 1997 they’ve finished second in the Bundesliga four times, most painfully in 2000 when a Ballack own goal against Unterhaching cost them the title on the last day.

That’s why they are called “Vize-kusen”.

Hold on, some might say. They have been to two Cup finals, fought for the Bundesliga four times and almost won the Champions League. There are not many teams out there who can boast to have done all that in such a short period.

That is true. But do these seven near-misses count more than Borussia Dortmund’s one Champions League win? Are they more precious than Schalke’s solitary UEFA Cup win? Or newly-crowned Bundesliga champions VfL Wolfsburg’s one and only trophy?

Whether fairly or not, no one apart from the Werkself fans themselves will remember Bayer’s almost-seven titles, nor will there be anything to display in the trophy cabinet.

Leverkusen keeper Rene Adler had a hard time fighting back the tears after the final whistle:

“It is difficult to say anything meaningful. Second place, you don’t get anything for that. Second place is the first loser. It’s terribly bitter. Vizekusen is just a word. It is a shame it was again confirmed tonight.”

PHOTO: Bayer Leverkusen’s Michael Ballack walks past the European Cup after his team lost the Champions League final against Real Madrid at Hampden Park. May 15, 2002. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Having seen the changes at the top of the Bundesliga in the past few months you cannot help but feel sorry for newcomers Hoffenheim, who have played some of the most exciting football this season.

They won promotion last year and halfway through the season they topped the standings in a sensational run. They shared the top spot at the halfway mark with Bayern Munich but were ahead on goal difference and style of play.

But that is where their Cinderella debut season with their free-flowing, attacking football ended; the clock struck 12 and the golden chariot turned into a defective Trabant.

The league’s top scorer at the time, Vedad Ibisevic, who netted 18 times in 17 matches, tore his ligament during the winter break. Out for the rest of the season.

Then came midfielder Carlos Eduardo’s five-match ban after fighting with Hamburg’s Ivica Olic during a friendly match.

As if that was not enough they also missed striker Chinedu Obasi — twice through injury — before the tranquillity of the team was again shattered by a weeks-long doping affair involving Andreas Ibertsberger and Christoph Janker.

The two defenders were 10 minutes late for a doping test but they did avoid punishment with the blame placed on club officials.

But that was not the last of Hoffenheim’s woes. Newly-signed keeper Timo Hildebrand has managed only a handful of appearances after being plagued by minor injuries.

Then came the ongoing 11-match winless streak, though many of those matches should have clearly been won.

In their 0-0 draw at home against Werder Bremen, striker Boubacar Sanogo alone hit the same post three times. “At the end I was laughing. I could not believe it,” he said.

So from first they are now down to eighth, their dreams of European soccer at their brand-new Rhein Neckar Arena dashed as fast as striker Demba Ba’s surging runs.

Coach Ralf Rangnick admits there is no point in talking about a European spot anymore but refuses to change his young team’s attacking style.

And for the football fans out there, that is great news.

PHOTO: TSG Hoffenheim’s coach Ralf Rangnick awaits the start of the German Bundesliga first match against Hamburg SV in Hamburg April 4, 2009. REUTERS/Morris Mac Matzen

The credit crunch is biting into German soccer, with teams starting to consider the idea of salary caps to further reduce annual running costs.

It was Bayern Munich manager Uli Hoeness who first warned some time ago that the financial downturn would hit Bundesliga clubs, especially mid-table ones, who would not be able to balance their budgets. Now Bayer Leverkusen sports director Rudi Voeller and, more surprisingly, Hoffenheim billionaire backer Dietmar Hopp have come out in favour of salary caps.

Salary caps, financial limits on the total amount spent on players’ wages, already exist in all professional sports leagues in the United States.

“I hope there will be an upper limit for players’ wages,” Voeller, who earned the best money of his long career in Italy and France. “We have reached the top limit.”

Hopp has poured just under 200 million euros into Hoffenheim to help bring the club from the lower regional divisions to the Bundesliga. The tycoon has turned them into title contenders and built a new stadium as well, but even he said contracts were now too high.

“What players earn is too much. If this crisis continues we will go under,” Hopp said after admitting that his shares had lost value worth about 2 billion euros in the stock market fall.

Germany has been hit hard by the crisis and while its clubs have always been less exuberant than their Italian, Spanish or English counterparts, they could soon decide to spend even less.

Several clubs have hinted they would look into reducing salaries from next year. It may sound bad for the quality of football but isn’t it ultimately better for the sport’s social responsibility?

PHOTO: The boot of TSG Hoffenheim’s Sejad Salihovic lies on top of the net during their Bundesliga match at VfB Stuttgart Feb. 21, 2009. REUTERS/Thomas Bohlen

The end of the transfer window is fast approaching and so far it has been fairly quiet (if we exclude the Manchester City-Kaka saga as it didn’t go through).

The deadline this year is February 2 given January finishes on a weekend so there is a little extra time for some late deals.

What transfers do you expect to see and which wacky moves would amuse you in an ideal world?

After Jermain Defoe and Pascal Chimbonda came back, will Tottenham Hotspur continue buying up their old players and target Liverpool’s hit-and-miss forward Robbie Keane? If they really want to roll back the clock, what about Sergei Rebrov?

Real Madrid made two hasty signings in Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Lassana Diarra, but could they pull a rabbit out of the hat late on. Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo have committed themselves to Milan and United, haven’t they?

Didier Drogba to Inter Milan is a favourite for the tabloids while where will Andrei Arshavin end up? Arsenal, Hoffenheim, Zenit?

Barcelona probably don’t need reinforcements but I’ve felt for years they needed a really top class goalkeeper, with the greatest respect to Victor Valdes. Juve’s Gianluigi Buffon has said he would leave if a fantasy football bid was made.

Have some fun and tell us your top transfer picks.

It’s been a great season so far for people living above Germany’s white sausage equator, as fearless Hoffenheim and classy Bayer Leverkusen continue to make Bayern Munich look very ordinary, and very worried, indeed.

Bayern have won their last four games in the Bundesliga but that run has merely been enough to prevent them falling any further behind Hoffenheim, who have won five in a row, scoring 17 goals in the process, and Leverkusen, who have racked up four successive 2-0 victories.

There’s a long way to go, of course, but it looks like these two sides could mount serious challenges for first Bundesliga titles. Even if they fail, it’s fun watching them threaten to upset the established order.

Meanwhile, Hull City are enjoying a great season in England, despite a couple of recent defeats, while second-placed Udinese are worrying the favourites in Italy, AZ Alkmaar are top in the Netherlands and Rubin Kazan have just won the Russian championship.

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could see some similar upstarts doing well in the Champions League?

Alas, a look at the tables sees the eight groups headed by the same old names: Chelsea, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Juventus and Liverpool (joint top with Atletico Madrid).

The last time the Champions League had a first-time winner was in 1997, when Borussia Dortmund upset Juventus in the final.

We’ll have to wait until next season (at least) to see if Hoffenheim can repeat the trick, but for now … Come on CFR Cluj!

PHOTO: Hoffenheim’s Vedad Ibisevic celebrates a goal with Chinedu Obasi during their Bundesliga victory over Karlsruhe in Mannheim, Nov. 1, 2008. REUTERS/Thomas Bohlen

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