History: 25 years ago – The 2001/02 treble runners-up season (August)

On Friday 3 August, the Werkself will fly to the Baltic Sea to prepare for their matchday two fixture against Hansa Rostock. They have the upcoming Champions League qualifying match against Red Star Belgrade in the back of their minds. Diego Placente comes in for the injured Michael Ballack; otherwise, the same players take to the pitch as a week earlier.

deserved win at in Rostock

The Werkself were highly focused right from the start at the Ostseestadion, took control of the game immediately and went 1–0 up in the 12th minute through Yildiray Bastürk. Ze Roberto hit the post once more before half-time. They went into the break with a deserved lead. The second half began with a bang. Rostock’s centre-forward Bachirou Salou powered his way through three Leverkusen defenders, only to be denied by a brilliant save from Bayer 04 goalkeeper Hans-Jörg Butt.

Hansa Rostock are now creating more of a threat. The Werkself are merely reacting, no longer marking their men as closely, but they are counter-attacking skilfully. In the 65th minute, veteran Ulf Kirsten scores to make it 2–0 with an assist from Oliver Neuville. And on 76 minutes, Lucio ran half the length of the pitch in his inimitable style, setting up Zoltan Sebescen, who slotted the ball home with his left foot to make it 3–0. Overall, the Werkself were the better side and deservedly headed home with three points in the bag.

argument over Lucio

Four days later, the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Red Star Belgrade takes place. Brazil manager, Luis Felipe Scolari, is pressuring Lucio to sit out this match – which is so crucial for Bayer 04 – and to travel to Brazil for a friendly against Panama a week before the World Cup qualifier against Paraguay. He tempts Lucio with the captain’s armband and threatens to ban him from the national team if he fails to turn up. However, the FIFA international break does not begin until after the match against FC Bayern, so Bayer 04 and Lucio do the right thing: the centre-back does not travel to South America early. Nevertheless, Bayer 04 manager Reiner Calmund demands a letter from the Brazilian Football Confederation stating that Lucio is not required to arrive in Brazil until Sunday, following the home match against Bayern.

For the Champions League qualifying match at Belgrade’s ‘Marakana’ stadium, packed to capacity with 50,000 spectators, Bayer 04 manager 'Topmeier' as stated on the team sheet, has to manage without Ze Roberto, who has a broken cheekbone, and Michael Ballack, who is still sidelined. With a tactically very disciplined performance, the Werkself underline their Champions League ambitions and return home with a deserved 0–0 draw. A win in the return leg in two weeks’ time will seal the deal.

draw with Bayern brings confidence

Bayern are the visitors for the next home match on 11 August. At a sold-out BayArena with 22,500 spectators, manager Klaus Toppmöller made just one change to the starting line-up from the match in Belgrade – Jurica Vranjes came in for Boris Zivkovic. The Werkself largely kept the game under control thanks to a highly focused defensive display, Carsten Ramelow acting as an effective ball-winner in midfield, and a high level of running effort in defence. However, it was not until late in the second half that centre-forward Ulf Kirsten netted the crucial opener following an assist from Oliver Neuville. Only then did Bayern pull themselves together and take control of the match. In the 79th minute, ten minutes after the Werkself had taken the lead, Bayern centre-forward Giovane Elber scored the equaliser. The score remained that way until the final whistle. An undeserved point for the champions, with the Werkself showing, contrary to preseason predictions, they were aiming to challenge at the top. Oliver Neuville told Kicker: “We’re stronger and more consistent than last year, and despite many major problems, we finished fourth then. Now we’re title contenders.”

A week later, Bayer 04 travel to Gelsenkirchen. Everything there revolves around the historic stadium opening, as Schalke have a new home ground in the ‘Arena AufSchalke’ and have picked up a point from their two previous away matches. Now, to mark the arena’s opening, they’re aiming for their first three points of the season.

Schnix‘ Last-Minute goal at Schalke

Werkself have Michael Ballack back in the squad, and he comes into the starting line-up in place of Jurica Vranjes. But in the first half, Bayer 04 struggled to cope with Schalke’s intense pressing and went into the break 2-0 down, even though the penalty awarded for Schalke’s second goal was a wrong call. After an hour, Ballack pulled one back to make it 2-1. When Ulf Kirsten equalised in the 73rd minute, it looked as though the Werkself were on course for victory, but Schalke 04 retook the lead at 3–2 in the 80th minute following a counter-attack. In stoppage time, Bayer 04 were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. Bernd ‘Schnix’ Schneider set the ball up, took a run-up and curled it over the wall into the net for a well-deserved equaliser. After the fourth matchday, Bayer 04 sit fourth in the table on eight points, four behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.

a commanding win against red star

On Tuesday, 21 August 2001, the crucial return leg against Red Star Belgrade takes place. Manager Klaus Toppmöller fields the same starting eleven as three days earlier in the match at Schalke. Playing at a high tempo, the Werkself take the wind out of their opponents’ sails right from the start. At the back, Jens Nowotny and Lucio were uncompromising in their clearing; alongside them, the well-positioned and physically strong Carsten Ramelow ensured a compact defence. As early as the 13th minute, Bayer 04 took a 1–0 lead through the outstanding Oliver Neuville. Ulf Kirsten made it 2–0 on 31 minutes – which was also the half-time score. After an hour, Oliver Neuville once again sealed the victory. With this thoroughly deserved win, the Werkself qualified for the first group stage of the Champions League and, three days later at the draw in Monaco, were drawn against Lyon, Barcelona and Fenerbahçe.

first hurdle in dFB Pokal also mastered

The first round of the DFB Pokal is played on the following weekend. The five Bundesliga sides – Hansa Rostock, Energie Cottbus, Borussia Dortmund, FC St. Pauli and FC Nürnberg – are knocked out of the competition early on by lower-league opponents. The Werkself are set to face Regionalliga side Jahn Regensburg. In this match, manager Klaus Toppmöller takes the opportunity to give Michael Ballack and Yildiray Bastürk a rest. Jurica Vranjes and Pascal Ojigwe start in their place. Ze Roberto is still sidelined due to his fractured cheekbone.

On 13 minutes, Ulf Kirsten puts the Bayer 04 bench at ease. The Werkself are playing with great versatility, winning most of the challenges and keeping possession. Yet Regensburg are holding their own and launching some extremely dangerous counter-attacks. After Lucio made it 2–0 on 54 minutes, the Jahn players’ resistance waned and the Werkself were now in complete control. When Bernd Schneider found the net again seven minutes after the second goal, the result was all but decided – Bayer 04 are through to the second round of the DFB Pokal.