The joy at an early opener on four minutes scored by Klaus Röhrig, who has to go off injured on ten minutes, is followed by annoyance about an unnecessary equaliser on 18 minutes. A Werkself side with countless misplaced passes and mistakes fail to thrill their supporters. In a defensive battle, the SSV Troisdorf defenders, served up by the unimaginative attacking football from the Werkself, again and again hit the ball into the stands. After unbroken powerplay from Matthias Brücken, who provided the assist for the first goal, Matthias Hemmersbach is set up to put Leverkusen back in front on 82 minutes. The following seven minutes sees the outstanding Matthias Brücken score a hat-trick to increase the scoreline to an unexpected 5-1.
A week later, the Werkself head to the Sportpark Höhenberg. Bayer 04 are unable to impress in the first half at Viktoria Köln on a very good pitch. After going behind early on six minutes, the team of coach Manfred Rummel are unable to find a response for a long time. They continued to attack the Viktoria goal but have to wait to the 62nd minute for the equaliser. Matthias Brücken was again goalscorer. A quarter of an hour later he is brought down in the penalty area. As usual, the very reliable Willi Rehbach steps up to take the spot-kick but this time the Viktoria keeper Horst Holubek makes the save on 77 minutes. The match ends in a draw that obviously fails to satisfy the Bayer 04 management.
Matchday 10 brings the FC Köln second team to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. 1,600 spectators watch this game but they are bitterly disappointed. The Werkself put on an awfully helpless display and again and again are unable to convert chances on goal against the very defensive approach of the second team at FC Köln. Neither Matthias Brücken, Gerd Kentschke and Norbert Sobbe nor Peter Surbach or Dieter Axemacher are able to beat the Köln keeper Bodo Mattern. The visitors thrive on their efficiency. They score three goals from four chances and push Bayer 04 towards mid-table. The Werkself are fifth on twelve points, four behind leaders SC Brühl. For two weeks the Bayer 04 players and their coach Manfred Rummel have time to lick their wounds.
The Leverkusener Stadt-Anzeiger provides an early critique of the season: "Title and promotion hardly achievable” is the headline in the Anzeiger on 22.11.1974. The Bayer 04 officials including coach Manfred Rummel and football boss Hermann Büchel appear helpless. One thing is certainly clear to everybody: Only a significant improvement in performances can help the Werkself achieve the target of returning to professional football with promotion to the Bundesliga 2 Nord. And so the fans under the Cross eagerly look forward to the two matches in December against third-placed SC Jülich and leaders SC Brühl. Now only wins can help.
Zoltan Sebescen was born on 1 October 1975 in Ehingen and he started playing football as a child. His talent stood out early on and he was accepted into the youth section at Stuttgarter Kickers in 1982. There he progressed through all the youth teams and continued to develop. His breakthrough in the men's game came in the mid-1990s, when he moved up to the Kickers first team squad. With his speed, dynamism and attacking drive, he soon made a name for himself beyond the region. He and his team were promoted from the Regional League South to Bundesliga 2 in 1996 and stayed in the league with Stuttgart for three years.
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Jens Nowotny was born on 11 January 1974 in Malsch, Baden-Württemberg. As a youngster, he played for SV Spielberg and Germania Friedrichstal and later joined the youth section at Karlsruher SC. As a 15-year-old, he became an integral part of the DFB national youth set-up and played for all of the Germany junior teams. One highlight was an U15 international against England at Wembley.
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It is Tuesday, 20 October 2015 - a Champions League night at the BayArena. The visitors: AS Roma. What awaits the spectators is a memorable football match full of drama, speed and emotion. The Werkself get off to a flying start and literally overrun the slightly favoured Italians in the early stages. The scoreline was 2-0 after just twenty minutes - both goals were scored by Mexico international Chicharito. Bayer 04 put the visitors under constant pressure with their aggressive pressing and bold attacking play and even had a chance to make it 3-0. Then the AS Roma captain Daniele De Rossi brought his team back into the game with a brace making it 2-2 at half-time.
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In the video you can see impressive and important goals in Bayer 04 history from the month of October. It's not always about the beauty of the goals, but also a reminder of special games and players.
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On 23 October 1960, a highly anticipated local derby took place in the DFB Pokal, which the team had to qualify for via the regional association cup competitions at the time: SV Schlebusch hosted the Werkself from Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Around 2,000 spectators flocked to the "Am Bühl" stadium to watch the game kicking off at 3 pm.
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