Sixth Place – or: How to Go to Bed Hungry with a Full Fridge

Sixth place. Europa League. At first glance, that sounds respectable enough. Solid work, decent report card, “showed promise with international upside.” But honestly, looking back, this season feels disappointing. Not disastrous, not embarrassing, not the kind of campaign that makes you stare silently into a half-empty Kölsch. But disappointing all the same.

The 1-1 draw against HSV was sadly the perfect final image of the season. Bayer pushed, Bayer dominated, Bayer collected possession like loyalty points at the supermarket — and still ended up with only a draw. Twenty-six shots, long spells of control, plus a penalty: that is a match you simply have to win if you seriously want to play Champions League football. Instead, we once again wasted chances as if missed opportunities earned bonus points at the end of the season. They do not. What they earned us was sixth place.

Of course, there are explanations. A new squad, a difficult start, ups and downs, and yes, European football is still European football. As Bayer fans, we know not every season can be a magic carpet ride through the Bundesliga with fireworks attached. But that is exactly why it hurts. This team had enough quality, enough good phases, enough moments to get more out of the season. The problem was not a lack of talent. Too often, it was a lack of ruthlessness. Chances were left lying around up front, while at the back opponents sometimes needed one decent idea and one clean strike to send us straight back into collective forehead-wrinkling mode.

Sixth place is not a collapse, but for Bayer 04 it is no longer something to celebrate with a marching band either. Expectations have changed. A team with this much control over matches has to turn dominance into results. A club aiming for the Champions League cannot keep handing out points like free pens in a shopping street.

We will take the Europa League, of course. Through my very red-and-black fan-tinted glasses, we are obviously winning the whole thing, probably with three deflected Aleix Garcia set pieces and a Robert Andrich tackle exhibition in the semi-final. But the criticism remains: this season was a missed opportunity. The biggest task is clear. Dominance must become goals. Otherwise Bayer 04 will remain the most beautiful machine in the factory — one that too often forgets to deliver the finished product.