On 18 May 1988, they all took part in the first title won by Bayer 04 on that legendary night at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium with the 'Miracle of Leverkusen' in the return leg of the final against Espanyol. Together with around 300 fans, the players from back then not only recalled the memorable fightback after being 3-0 down in the first leg and the dramatic penalty shootout in the return leg but also reviewed the whole UEFA Cup season. Austria Vienna, FC Toulouse, Feyenoord, FC Barcelona, Werder Bremen and finally Espanyol in the two-legged final– were the opponents in the competition. 13 of the UEFA Cup winners of 1988 came together to review that special season in a relaxed atmosphere. Marcus Feinbier, Florian Hinterberger, Christian Schreier, Falko Götz, Christian Hausmann, Andrzej Buncol, Wolfgang Rolff, Erich Seckler, Knut Reinhardt, Bernd Dreher and Rüdiger Vollborn took part along with assistant coach Gerd Kentschke and the then general manager Michael Meier.
Vollborn, one of the Bayer 04 fan liaison team and a proud cup winner, organised the meeting together with Dirk Dreher, the manager of the Veterans team. The event in the West stand at the BayArena was compered by stadium announcer Tobias Ufer who invited the heroes of yesteryear up to the stage for interview one at a time. "We watched video highlights of all the games with the fans and then spoke about them in detail with one or two anecdotes exchanged," said Rüdiger Vollborn. "It was a wonderful night." Many of the fans present took the opportunity to have themselves photographed with the UEFA Cup or to buy the white special kit commemorating the 1998 triumph, which the Werkself players wore in the last Bundesliga away game of the season at Werder Bremen.
In fact, 18 May is not the only time this year that former winners will meet up. "We've planned another big meeting in September or October where we'll celebrate with the 1988 UEFA Cup winners as well as the DFB Cup winners of 1993. Then, Tita and Bum-kun Cha, who weren't here this time, will be at the event," said Vollborn. An event with fans is also planned for 12 June to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the DFB Cup win. Bayer 04 will definitely not fail to celebrate these events this year.
“Year after year, this is an incredibly valuable gathering, both in terms of the content covered and the opportunity for mutual discussion,” stressed Bayer 04 goalkeeping coach David Thiel in his welcoming address at this year’s goalkeeping coaches’ meeting. This was the third time in four seasons that the event had been held at the BayArena. Organised by the German Football Association (DFB), the meeting brought together goalkeeping coaches from the Bundesliga, Bundesliga 2 and the 3rd division from the west region. For the first time this year, goalkeeping coaches from the youth performance centres (NLZ) were also present. Bayer 04 fitness coach Markus Müller provided fascinating insights into the specific fitness training carried out with the Werkself’s goalkeepers.
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It was another incredibly close call in the end: The second showdown in the 2026/27 VBL Club Championship saw the #B04eSports team once again narrowly miss out on a place in the top 16 of the preliminary round – and with it, a spot in the in-person knockout stage. It was a bitter blow: Marc and Sean Landwehr again fell just short, despite being level on points with their rivals. As was the case last month, their weaker record across the twelve individual matches in the six preliminary round fixtures proved decisive.
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“They stuck with us over the past few weeks when things weren’t going so well,” said captain Edmond Tapsoba, thanking the fans for their support after the 2–1 win in Cologne and dedicating the derby victory to them. Throughout the 90 minutes, the Werkself had looked unfazed and in command, inflicting the first home defeat of the season on FC Köln. It was the sixth consecutive win against the Cologne team for Bayer 04 – head coach Carles Martínez, on the other hand, was facing the team from the neighbouring city for the first time and “now really knows what this derby win means”. The Werkself derby review.
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Following the 2–1 derby victory away at FC Köln on Bundesliga matchday 9, Edmond Tapsoba, Malik Tillman and Aleix Garcia spoke to Werkself TV...
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Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-1 derby win at 1. FC Köln Matchday 9 of the 2026/27 Bundesliga season...
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