It looked like a lost cause after the 3-0 defeat in the first leg in Barcelona. And yet, hope and promise lay in the Leverkusen air on the evening of 18 May 1988. The crowd were waving flags with 18,000 Bayer 04 fans amongst the 22,000 at the Haberland Stadium, that was being redeveloped, singing loud in hope of creating a sensation. The West Stand was a skeleton with a couple of hundred temporary seats installed at short notice to cater for the club staff and journalists. What followed was a performance by the Werkself that has not lost any of its drama and emotion after 32 years. Bayer 04 TV brought highlights of the second leg of the 1988 UEFA Cup final...
30 years later there was a big anniversary celebration at the 1904 Lounge at the BayArena: The UEFA Cup heroes of 1988 were clearly full of joy at that reunion.
Match information:
Bayer 04: Vollborn – Rolff – Seckler, A. Reinhardt – Schreier (Waas 46’), Cha, Buncol, Falkenmayer, K. Reinhardt – Götz, Tita (Täuber 62’)
Espanyol: N'Kono – Miguel Angel – Job, Gallard, Urkiaga – Orejuela (Zubillaga 67’), Inaki, Golobart (Zuniga 73’), Soler – Alonso, Losada
Goals: 1-0 Tita (58’), 2-0 Götz (63’), 3-0 Cha (81’)
Penalty shootout: Rolff, Waas and Täuber scored for Bayer 04, Alonso and Job for Espanyol
Referee: Keizer (Netherlands)
Booked: A. Reinhardt, K. Reinhardt – Miguel Angel, Zubillaga
Attendance: 22,000 (sold out)


With 22 days to go until the start of the Bundesliga campaign, the Bayer 04 Women’s team have gained a fresh boost of confidence. In a friendly against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk on Saturday afternoon, coach Roberto Pätzold’s team secured a 1–0 win. Lobke Loonen (20’) scored the winner for the Black and Reds at the Kurtekotten training centre.
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You have voted – your ‘Team of the Quarter-Century’ has been decided! This historic selection, covering the period from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2024, features honorary captains, Bundesliga champions, double winners and Champions League finalists. Edmond Tapsoba is the only player from the current Bayer 04 squad to make it into the starting XI, while his team-mate Patrik Schick is on the bench. Simon Rolfes, the current managing director sport, is also in the lie-up. A truly special team that brings together a quarter of a century of Bayer 04 history – and has left a decisive mark on the club.
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Following Patrik Schick, Mark Flekken, Ibrahim Maza and Kerim Alajbegovic earlier this week, the next World Cup participant is back on the training ground in Leverkusen: On Thursday 30 July, Malik Tillman rejoined the squad, completing his first training session under head coach Carles Martínez.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of the 4-0 victory in the friendly match against KRC Genk...
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In their third friendly of this pre-season, Bayer 04 played on home soil for the first time – and won there too! The Werkself claimed a comfortable 4-0 victory against Belgian top-flight side KRC Genk at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Jeanuel Belocian (9’) and Nathan Tella (42’) gave a dominant Leverkusen a 2-0 lead at the break, which Afonso Moreira (51’) and Christian Kofane (53’) doubled after the break. Among the many second-half substitutions was Patrik Schick, who made his first friendly appearance of the summer.
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