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Bayer Leverkusen. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. They have fallen short so many times they have earned an unwanted nickname. In Germany they call it 'Vizekusen' - or 'second kusen'. In English, it translates as 'Neverkusen'.
The German club have been runners up for the Bundesliga five times in their history and lost out in the German Cup final three times. They even lost out in the German Super Cup in 1993 and fell short in the 2002 Champions League final after being beaten by Real Madrid.
The club's reputation has become so fixated on the idea of failure that Leverkusen even issued a trademark on the word Vizekusen in bizarre marketing strategy. But Neverkusen is about to become a thing of the past.
Xabi Alonso has led his team to a so far unbeaten season in Bundesliga - going 16 points clear at the top and knowing all they have to do to become champions is match Bayern Munich's result against Cologne when they take on Werder Bremen.
Should they pull it off, it will lay to rest one of the most brutal curses in football - one of many in the game that have plagued teams, with some bizarre stories that have followed from them.
Mail Sport takes a look at some of the most famous curses in football as Leverkusen close in on ending theirs.
Bayer Leverkusen are on the verge of ending their long-running curse of never winning the Bundesliga - despite coming close on five occasions
REVENGE OF AUSTRALIA'S WITCH DOCTOR
Many teams have a pre-match ritual to get the upper hand on the opposition but the Australian national team took some very peculiar steps to gain an advantage over Rodesia in 1969 - which was a qualifier for the 1970 World Cup.
The Socceroos players reportedly hired a witch doctor to bury bones near the goal posts in an attempt to curse the opposition. Whether or not the bones played a part, Australia managed to win the game 3-1. However, the move backfired when they failed to pay their witch doctor the $1,000 (£787) he was seeking.
It is believed the same witch doctor then cursed Australia as revenge for not paying him. What followed was a period of darkness for the team. They would fail to qualify for the 1970 World Cup and though they'd reach the 1974 edition, they didn't score a single goal.
In 2004, Australia had never qualified for a World Cup since before an Australian TV presenter is said to have flown to Africa to hire another witch doctor to remove the curse.
Is it a coincidence that they went on to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and every single tournament since? That's up to you to decide.
GROBBELAAR'S BIZARRE GOALPOSTS RITUAL
What can you do to help a team win its first Premier League title in 30 years? Well, if you're Bruce Grobbelaar, you can pour a bottle of your own urine down the goalposts at both ends of Anfield.
The former Zimbabwe international and legendary Liverpool shot stopper claims he learned this bizarre ritual while living in Africa and believes it helped the Reds break their own title curse in 2019-20.
Even though he hadn't played for Liverpool since 1994, Grobbelaar said he pulled off the strange idea after being invited back to Anfield for a corporate game. Now 66, he said Liverpool went on to go unbeaten at home the following season before winning the title.
Former Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar made a bizarre claim about his attempts to end the club's 30-year title drought
He believes peeing on both posts at Anfield during a corporate game spurred the club to victory
'In Africa, if the pitch was cursed then you peed on the posts,' he explained. 'So when I came back to live in England, I was asked to play in the corporate game at Anfield. I told the story to Tage Herstad, the fan who invited me, and he said, 'Bruce, you've got to do the business'.'
'I said, "Yeah, I'll try to play well". [Herstad] said, "No, you've got to finally lift the curse!" So I peed in a bottle, poured it all down the posts and crossbar at both ends, and saved a penalty at the Anfield Road End. Then the Reds went on an undefeated run at Anfield and won the Premier League!'
BENFICA'S EUROPEAN CURSE
Perhaps the most famous curse of them all.
Benfica in the 1960s were a powerhouse of European football, with Eusebio leading their charge, but it was manager Bela Guttman who was the mastermind as he helped secure back to back European Cup triumphs in 1961 and 1962.
But when Guttman demanded a pay rise for his notable successes and was turned down, he is said to have cursed Benfica and declared that they wouldn't win another European final for another 100 years.
Benfica have reportedly been cursed for 100 years in European finals after sacking one of their most successful managers
In the years that followed, Benfica have played a grand total of nine European finals. They have lost them all.
The last two saw the Portuguese giants reach the Europa League final in successive seasons in 2013 and 2014. The first against Chelsea saw them lose the final in the last minute thanks to a Branislav Ivanovic goal. The second against Sevilla saw them lose in a penalty shootout.
In between they have lost five European Cup finals, two UEFA Cup finals and one Intercontinental Cup final.
It is quite a remarkable story and a reported curse that
