The home game against Preußen Münster a week later falls victim to the state of the pitch so that Bayer 04 can only play again on 18 January. Eintracht Gelsenkirchen are the hosts to the Werkself at the Südstadion in Gelsenkirchen. Ahead of kick-off, there are worried faces in the Eintracht camp as the home team have to play with three players suffering from flu. The excellent fitness of the Bayer team allows them to play their feared high-tempo game. The Werkself take the lead on 18 minutes with a deflected shot from Fredi Hennecken. The result is settled on 67 minutes when Karl-Heinz Brücken makes it 2-0. The league leaders in the Regional League West can now focus on the highlight in January – a cup tie against Bundesliga league leaders FC Nürnberg.
Preparations for the big match are underway. 12,000 tickets are sold in advance a week before the game. The public address system at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium is refurbished and brought up to the original volume required for a capacity crowd at the stadium. The building control department approves a capacity of 19,000. 300 additional seats are set up in front of the East Stand, albeit uncovered. The price per seat is eight Deutschmarks. The stadium opens at noon two hours before the start of the game and the spectators are entertained with recorded music. 70 police officers are on duty to control the traffic. Fans are advised to park under the autobahn where there is space for 1,500 cars. Fans living near to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium are advised to leave their cars at home.
