Hincapie Scores in the Wrong Goal – and Tah Heads Straight into Our Hearts!

There are days when you need nerves of steel, a strong heart, and maybe a good dose of humor to survive as a Bayer 04 fan. Saturday afternoon in Freiburg was definitely one of those days. You travel deep into the Black Forest full of pride, expecting to see your team—on the verge of setting a historic away record—play some confident football. Instead, you get 70 minutes of careful ball circulation that had about as much cutting edge as a rubber knife. And yet, somehow, we ended up celebrating like lunatics at the final whistle. Why? Because Jonathan Tah decided: "400 games? Guess I'll write myself a little fairytale."

It all started out the way you’d expect from a team chasing a record: lots of possession, lots of control, lots of... let's be honest: lots of beautifully boring football. Rain pouring down, great atmosphere in the away end, but on the pitch? It was football that only a die-hard could love. Freiburg bunkered down, Bayer knocked the ball around with all the urgency of a lazy Sunday stroll. And when Eggestein hammered a shot from downtown into the net—with Kovar giving an Oscar-worthy but ultimately useless dive—it was clear: this was going to be one of those days.

Then, just when you thought it couldn't get worse, Hincapie decided to give Freiburg a little gift—an own goal that looked like a deleted scene from a slapstick comedy. 0-2 down, against Freiburg, while Bayern Munich were already chilling on their couches, popping champagne corks. Our boys? They looked like they were mentally checking their summer vacation plans.

But—because Bayer is Bayer—just when you think hope is lost, they suddenly remember how to play football. Out of nowhere, Florian Wirtz woke up, danced through three defenders like he was in a video game, and smashed the ball in off the post. 1-2, and suddenly the away end exploded back to life. That tiny, irrational Bayer hope—that beautiful, stubborn hope that never really leaves us—was alive again.

And then, deep into stoppage time, just when Freiburg thought they had it in the bag, he appeared: our captain, our rock, our Jonathan Tah. Of course it was him. On his 400th appearance for Bayer 04, he threw his whole body into a cross, somehow headed (or should we say "shouldered") the ball into the net—and sent us straight into pure, delirious joy. Equalizer. Record tied. Heart attacks narrowly avoided.

Sure, the point meant Bayern Munich officially clinched the title. Sure, we looked like a tired boxer in round twelve for most of the game. Whatever. What matters is this: 33 away Bundesliga games unbeaten. Tied with Bayern's best run ever. That’s not luck. That’s heart. That’s Bayer 04.

Now it’s onto one last home game against Dortmund and awy in Mainz. Who knows—maybe we’ll finish this season with one last happy ending that feels a little less like a math homework assignment. Until then, we celebrate the moment: Thank you, Tah. Thank you, Wirtz. Thank you, Bayer 04.