Editing Michael Ballack (section)

=== Bayer Leverkusen ===
It was at Bayer Leverkusen that Ballack made his breakthrough. Coaches [[Christoph Daum]] and [[Klaus Toppmöller]] granted him an attacking role in the midfield. Ballack was instrumental to the success of Leverkusen, scoring 27 goals in the league<ref name="club and country stats"/> and nine in Europe over the course of his three seasons at the [[BayArena]].

In 2000, Bayer Leverkusen needed only a draw against minnows [[SpVgg Unterhaching]] to win the Bundesliga title, but an own goal by Ballack helped send the team to a crushing 0–2 defeat,<ref>{{cite web|language=de |url=http://www.fussballdaten.de/bundesliga/2000/34/uhaching-leverkusen |title=SpVgg Unterhaching – Bayer Leverkusen |access-date=4 July 2011 |work=Fussballdaten.de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216115834/http://www.fussballdaten.de/bundesliga/2000/34/uhaching-leverkusen |archive-date=16 February 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> while Bayern Munich clinched the title with a 3–1 victory over [[SV Werder Bremen|Werder Bremen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fussballdaten.de/bundesliga/2000/34/ |title=Der 34. Spieltag der Bundesliga 1999/2000 |access-date=4 July 2011 |language=de |work=Fussballdaten.de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216115834/http://www.fussballdaten.de/bundesliga/2000/34/ |archive-date=16 February 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[2001–02 Bundesliga|2001–02 season]] was a disappointing one for Bayer Leverkusen. In the Bundesliga, the team surrendered a five-point lead at the top of the table over the last three games of the season to finish second behind [[Borussia Dortmund]]; lost the [[2001–02 UEFA Champions League|UEFA Champions League]] [[2002 UEFA Champions League Final|final]] 2–1 to [[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]]; and lost the [[2001–02 DFB-Pokal|DFB-Pokal]] final 4–2 to [[FC Schalke 04|Schalke 04]]. These three runner-up finishes were dubbed a "Treble Horror": Bayer Leverkusen was dubbed "Bayer [[Neverkusen]]" in [[English language|English]], while the [[German language|German]] nickname became ''Vizekusen''.<ref name=nearlyman/> Ballack and Leverkusen teammates [[Bernd Schneider (footballer)|Bernd Schneider]], [[Carsten Ramelow]] and [[Oliver Neuville]] were also beaten finalists with Germany in the [[2002 FIFA World Cup]], although Ballack was suspended for the [[2002 FIFA World Cup Final|final itself]]. Ballack finished with 17 league goals and his performance over the season led to him being voted into the UEFA.com users' Team of 2002 as well as being named [[German Footballer of the Year]].