Feldhoff: ' I had my best time at Leverkusen.'

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.