michael ballack played in the 2001/02 uefa champions league final with bayer 04 leverkusen and is now urging the club's class of 2011/12 to take their opportunity on the big stage.
michael ballack played in the uefa champions league final with bayer 04 leverkusen a decade ago and now, in his second spell with the club, the veteran midfielder is urging his younger team-mates to seize the moment on their return to europe's biggest stage.
in this exclusive video interview with uefa.com, ballack said: "why shouldn't the current team succeed as well? there are many young players, many players with huge potential, who have been lying in wait for this, to be able to play on this stage of the champions league, and now it's up to us, to each individual, to make the best of it."
ballack also discusses the threat of leverkusen's matchday three and four opponents valencia cf – a team with "much more experience" of the uefa champions league – but stresses that a top-two finish in group e remains their goal.
sidney sam scored a wonderful winner as leverkusen came from behind to move four points clear of their opponents in group e.
a stunning strike from sidney sam capped an equally spectacular turnaround as bayer 04 leverkusen came from a goal down to end valencia cf's unbeaten run in group e.
a home victory looked highly unlikely after a first half dominated by the visitors. yet with only jonas's 24th-minute strike to show for their superiority, valencia found themselves behind in the space of five second-half minutes. first andré schürrle equalised before sam arrowed a sublime strike beyond diego alves to give leverkusen back-to-back wins in the section.
for a team with a justified reputation as being defensively sound, valencia began with an enterprising air, all incisive movement and crisp interplay. it should have brought an opening goal when, following a fleet-footed counterattack, éver banega's drive ricocheted into the path of the unmarked soldado, who struck a post with the goal gaping.
the luckless striker would not have to wait long to make amends, showing the poise he had previously lacked to capitalise on a misunderstanding in the leverkusen back four. from the left side of the area, the striker clipped in a fine pass with the outside of his boot and jonas did the rest by passing it into the net having timed his run perfectly.
another mistake led to leno having to brilliantly parry both jonas's drive and pablo hernández's follow-up as leverkusen were in danger of being overwhelmed. though clearly second best, they very nearly found themselves level at the break as schürrle's spectacular dipping volley extended diego alves.
from the resulting corner, the brazilian goalkeeper parried michael ballack's header straight onto stefan kiessling, who could do little but watch the ball bounce off his knee and agonisingly wide from point-blank range.
having seen his defence shredded, robin dutt brought on manuel friedrich at half-time; the centre-back's arrival appearing to infuse confidence through the side. that belief manifested itself in a well-worked equaliser, as michal kadlec darted forward from left-back and his cross found schürrle, whose sweetly struck shot from the edge of the area was too good for diego alves.
the balance of the match had swung, and unlike their visitors, leverkusen quickly capitalised on their dominance. having been picked out by ballack's swerving pass, sam burst clear of the valencia defence down the right before striking a majestic curling shot into the far top corner with his left foot.
valencia recovered from the blow to rally, but leno's reflexes denied soldado. the teenage custodian was then well positioned to cling onto a jonas shot to ensure his team moved four points clear of their opponents ahead of the teams' reunion in spain in two weeks' time.
yardımcı hakemler: francis andrews (sco), alasdair ross (sco)
4. hakem: iain robertson brines (sco)
çizgi hakemleri: steven mclean (sco), alan muir (sco)
leverkusen: bernd leno (gk), stefan reinartz (dk. 46 manuel friedrich), simon rolfes (c), lars bender, andré schürrle, stefan kiessling (dk. 81 eren derdiyok), michael ballack, sidney sam (dk. 90+1 daniel schwaab), ömer toprak, michal kadlec, gonzalo castro
yedekler: david yelldell (gk), bastian oczipka, hanno balitsch, nicolai jørgensen
teknik direktör: robin dutt (ger)
valencia: diego alves (gk), adil rami, david albelda (c) (dk. 82 aritz aduriz), jonas, roberto soldado, éver banega, jordi alba (dk. 65 sergio canales), víctor ruiz, pablo hernández (dk. 65 sergio canales), jérémy mathieu, miguel
yedekler: vicente guaita (gk), bruno saltor, mehmet topal, ricardo costa
teknik direktör: unai emery (esp)
goller: dk. 24 jonas (0-1) dk. 52 andré schürrle (1-1) dk. 56 sidney sam (2-1)
sarı kartlar: dk. 23 simon rolfes (c), dk. 26 stefan kiessling, dk. 48 andré schürrle (leverkusen) dk. 22 éver banega, dk. 42 david albelda (c), dk. miguel (valencia)
