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)
Bayer 04 Leverkusen have loaned new signing Luca Erlein to newly promoted FC Energie Cottbus for the 2026/27 season. This will give him the opportunity to play in Bundesliga 2. The club signed the 19-year-old right-back on a permanent basis last week, on a contract to 30 June 2030.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen has a new coffee partner. The club has agreed a long-term partnership with the Bocholt-based roastery Imping, running to 30 June 2031. The exclusive partnership with the family-run business includes the installation of fully automatic coffee machines at the BayArena, as well as the right to supply and serve coffee products in the business areas during Werkself home games.
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