Back
12.06.2020DFB-Pokal

27 years ago today: Werkself win the DFB Cup

This week, Bayer 04 progressed to the DFB Cup final for the fourth time in the club’s history after beating FC Saarbrücken 3-0 in the semi-finals. Back then, the Werkself showed how to win that game and go on to lift the cup. Bayer 04 TV looks back at the highlights of the cup triumph against the Hertha Berlin Reserves 27 years ago today.

The first DFB Cup final for Bayer 04 was played on 12 June of that year. The opponents, the Hertha Berlin second team, were the rank outsiders. 15,000 Black and Red fans followed their team to Berlin. The Werkself were in control of the game for the full 90 minutes and only conceded one shot on goal. Equally, the favourites found it hard to penetrate the Hertha defence. Then, on 77 minutes, the striker Ulf Kirsten broke the deadlock with a header from a Pavel Hapal cross. 1-0 to the Werkself! That secured the club’s second title after the UEFA Cup win in 1988.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Vollborn - Foda, Wörns, Fischer, Lupescu, Kree, Happe, Scholz, Hapal, Thom, Kirsten

Hertha BSC Reserves: Fiedler - O. Schmidt (73. Höpfner), Meyer, Nied, Kolczyk, Ramelow, Klews, A. Schmidt, Kaiser, Holzbecher, Gezen

Goals: 1-0 Kirsten (77’)

Referee: Dr. Markus Merk (Kaiserslautern)

Booked: Kirsten - /

Attendance: 76.391

sky_comeback_300x250.jpg

Related News

Werkself seals playoff spot against Villarreal | 8th matchday UCL
Werkself-TV - 28.01.2026

TV highlights of the 3-0 win against Villarreal

Werkself TV shows highlights of the 3-0 win against FC Villarreal on matchday 8 in the UEFA Champions League 2025/26 league phase...

Show more
Werkself beim Torjubel
Champions League - 28.01.2026

Werkself seal play-off spot with 3-0 win against Villarreal

The Champions League journey continues! On the eighth and final matchday of the league phase of the UEFA Champions League 2025/26, Bayer 04 secured their place in the play-offs with a commanding 3-0 win over Villarreal. Malik Tillman put in a mature and combative performance for Leverkusen, scoring a brace (12', 35') to make it 2-0 at the break, while Alejandro Grimaldo (57') and plenty of control of the game did the rest in the second half. The draw for the Werkself's next UCL opponents will take place on Friday 30 January at 12:00 CET.

Show more
Sean und Marc Landwehr
eSports - 28.01.2026

#B04eSports: Leverkusen advance to offline round in fourth showdown

The Leverkusen eSports team played the remaining three of the six matches in the online preliminary round of the fourth showdown in the VBL Club Championship 2025/26. RB Leipzig and SC Freiburg were among the teams with the highest goal threat, including two World Cup participants in their ranks. Although the #B04eSports players were defeated in the matches overall, nine points from the first three games last week were enough for Leverkusen to advance to the offline round in Berlin on 2 February.

Show more
Die PK mit Vázquez und Hjulmand vor dem UCL-Heimspiel gegen Villarreal | 8. Spieltag UCL
Werkself-TV - 27.01.2026

Hjulmand ahead of #B04VIL: ‘Play to win, that's our mentality’

A decisive showdown awaits: The Werkself are aiming to progress to the play-off round of the 2025/26 UEFA Champions League with a home win against Villarreal CF on the eighth and final matchday of the league phase. Ahead of the match on Wednesday, 28 January (kick-off: 21:00 CET), coach Kasper Hjulmand spoke about the importance of the game, the possible return of Edmond Tapsoba and a statement from new signing Jonas Omlin in an exclusive interview with Werkself TV. Lucas Vázquez, for his part, spoke about his role on and off the pitch as well as tomorrow’s opponents, who he often faced in Spain with Real Madrid.

Show more