Markus, what's your connection with 9 March 1997?
Feldhoff: People keep asking me about that day. For me, the three goals against Bayern Munich are the highlight of my sporting career. You don't beat Bayern 5-2 every day of the week.
Let's talk about those three goals. Paulo Sergio and René Rydlewicz scored the first two goals and then you made it 3-0 on 42 minutes.
Feldhoff: Calle Ramelow had a shot and I slid into the ball. It wasn't a spectacular goal. In the second half, Bayern came back at 3-2, I was pretty knackered and I'd already indicated I wanted come off. But Christoph Daum left me on.
And then you wrapped it up with two more goals on 80 and 84 minutes.
Feldhoff: The fourth goal came from a set piece with the ball landing at my feet. I just stopped it and shot from 4 or 5 yards out. With the fifth goal Ze Elias hit the ball from the halfway line, I was one-on-one with Oliver Kahn, I beat him and put the ball in the net. Bayern complained that I'd handled it. And I don't think they were completely wrong.
A few weeks later you tore your cruciate in a game against Freiburg. You describe that as a turning point in your career.
Feldhoff: Yes, because I never really recovered from that. I had an operation on 24 March by the specialist Dr Steadman in Colorado and I returned to full training on 26 June after just three months rehab. That was obviously too early. Nowadays it takes at least six months to recover from an injury like that.
How do you rate your three years at Leverkusen between 1995 and 1998?
Feldhoff: For me, the time at Leverkusen was the best in the Bundesliga. In my first year I played with Rudi Völler, Bernd Schuster and Paulo Sergio. Ulf Kirsten was obviously a big rival. In my second season I was on track up to the injury. Bayer 04 are a great club and I have a lot of very good memories. When I returned to Leverkusen in 2014 as part of my coach training to watch Sami Hyypiä, I really felt at home straightaway.
Rüdiger Vollborn has been at the club for 40 years, he holds the record number of Bundesliga appearances for the club (401) and is the only Bayer 04 player to have won both the UEFA Cup (1988) and the DFB Pokal (1993). And the Berliner stayed with the Werkself after ending his impressive playing career as he worked as a goalkeeping coach for the following nine years. Vollborn now works under the Bayer Cross as a fan liaison officer and club archivist. Since February 2021, the personal Black and Red lexicon takes Werkself fans under the heading of 'Rudi recounts...' on a brief trip through the history of Bayer 04 every month…
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Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 1-2 loss against VfL Wolfsburg on the 2nd matchday of the Google Pixel Women's Bundesliga 2026/27.
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Bayer 04’s eight opponents in the group stage of the 2026/27 UEFA Europa League have been confirmed. At the draw on Friday 28 August held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco, the Werkself were drawn against two opponents from each of the four pots. There are a total of four home and four away matches. Read on for details of opponents and fixture dates.
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In the 3-2 defeat at Bundesliga newcomers SV 07 Elversberg, the Werkself found the back of the net in the closing stages and, with a bit of luck, could still have equalised. “Today, our play wasn’t good enough, particularly when it came to the basics,” said head coach Carles Martínez. Like the boss, Ibrahim Maza also wants to learn from the match and look ahead: “Next week, people should be able to see from the very first minute that we want it more than our opponents.” The Werkself review on the Bundesliga opener in 2026/27.
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-3 loss at SV 07 Elversberg on Matchday 1 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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