Matches of the month: Intertoto Cup with the B team – The start of a journey

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The Intertoto Cup was launched in 1967 to facilitate betting in the close season. For a lot of smaller clubs it was the opportunity to compete on the European stage and play interesting matches in preparation for the new season. Bayer 04 took part in the group matches in 1982. UEFA took over the competition in 1995/96 and it was renamed the UEFA Intertoto Cup. There was now the possibility for clubs who just missed out on qualifying for the UEFA Cup to do well in the Intertoto Cup and thereby qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Bayer 04 finished seventh in 1994/95 and had the opportunity to qualify for Europe via the Intertoto Cup. Albeit the first matches were just two weeks after the final league game of the season and Bayer 04 guaranteed their regular players a three-week holiday so that the first two group matches against OFI Crete (Greece) and JK Pärnu Tervis (Estonia) involved reserve and amateur players.

The first match against OFI Crete was a home match at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on 2 July 1995. Bayer 04 won the game 1-0. That was followed a week later by a 6-1 victory away to the Estonian top-flight club with Sebastian Barnes scoring a hat-trick. Those two wins were the basis for coming top of the group but the exit came in the quarter-finals in a penalty shootout at FC Tirol Innsbruck (Austria).

This was the Werkself line-up against OFI Crete: Dirk Heinen – Rene Hahn, Josef Nehl, Mike Rietpietsch, Thomas Vana, Claudio Reyna, Daniel Addo, Mario Tolkmitt, Ralf Becker, Andreas Neuendorf, Markus Kurth. Sebastian Barnes and Carsten Baumann came on as substitutes.

The video above contains TV highlights of the home game against OFI Crete..

the start to a very special season

The Werkself started the 2001/02 season on 28 July. The first match saw VfL Wolfsburg visit the BayArena. The new head coach Klaus Toppmöller fielded the following team: Jörg Butt – Zoltan Sebescen, Lucio, Jens Nowotny, Zé Roberto, Bernd Schneider, Carsten Ramelow, Michael Ballack, Yildiray Bastürk, Ulf Kirsten, Oliver Neuville.

The goalkeeper Butt, Sebescen and Bastürk were three new signings in the starting eleven. Ballack was able to play in spite of a broken toe. In a rather average game in hot weather Bayer 04 were in control at all times and led 2-0 shortly after the restart with a brace from Lucio. The Werkself were floundering for a short time on 86 minutes when the former Leverkusen player Markus Feldhoff pulled a goal back but the three points were secured. Nobody could have suspected what an outstanding season this group would have on that Saturday afternoon. But the journey had started.

HERE are the highlights.