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The situation in the table is as follows: The Werkself are eighth with 17 points just two behind third-placed Borussia Mönchengladbach. Köln are thirteenth on 13 points five points above the relegation spots. But as so often in this fixture, the position in the table is not important but instead the attitude on the pitch – and that proves to be right from the first minute. Both teams give their all, Bayer 04 take the lead on 19 minutes through Rudi Völler who was outstanding on the day.
Without the injured Bernd Schuster, Hans-Peter Lehnhoff and Ulf Kirsten, the Werkself only hold onto the lead for two minutes when a low shot from Bruno Labbadia from 18 metres out appears to be going wide but surprises me by ending up in the net. From that point I gave everything to keep out several shots on goal from the Köln team and in the first half I am bundled into the net by the Köln centre-forward Toni Polster at a cross. I carry on playing with a painful jaw. Heiko Scholz puts us back in front with a goal on 33 minutes. That is the scoreline at half-time. I'm given some ice for my jaw and we carry on in the second half. Köln try everything but go a player down on 65 minutes with a second yellow card for defender Karsten Baumann. From now on it is somewhat easier for the Werkself to control the game. With 88 minutes gone, substitute Markus Münch settles the Bayer 04 fans and his teammates with a great shot from the edge of the box for the final scoreline of 3-1.
We do a lap of honour after the game, shower and then go into the VIP room in our area is always after a home game. When I sit down at the table where my wife sitting she just says: Your face is crooked." I say: "Well, the jaws a bit painful but I know it will be better tomorrow." I pick up a prawn, bite into it with gusto and scream. My wife: "I think we'll go to hospital." Said and done. The x-rays show a broken jaw, my mouth is wired up and that means: only liquid food for the next three weeks and no sport at all. The next three days I only eat soup and lose three kilos in weight. From that point, my wife makes me mash potatoes alternatively mixed with carrots and broccoli. The first solid meal for me comes on Christmas Eve as you have to have turkey at Christmas.
Dirk Heinen is in the Bayer 04 goal for the remaining two games of the year, in the UEFA Cup against GKS Katowice (4-0) and in the Bundesliga in Dresden (1-1) and he does a very good job.
Bayer 04 started the new season on 20 July 1950. To the applause from almost 2,000 spectators, the Werkself stepped onto the pitch at the Am Stadtpark stadium and the season target was clear to the supporters: finally achieve promotion to the Oberliga West. Under the direction of new coach Raymond Schwab, who brought one of his Essen players with him in the shape of Karl-Heinz Spikofski, the team did a couple of laps. Coach Schwab gave a speech in front of all the fans where he clearly imparted his request for calm in the stands and he said he hated nothing more than heckling or laughing when mistakes are made. He hoped the Bayer 04 supporters would follow his advice.
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Horst Knauf was born in Cologne on 16 August 1960. As a teenager he played for PSV Köln before signing for the Bayer 04 Leverkusen U19s as a talented midfielder in 1976. He made the move up from the second team to the Bundesliga squad in 1980. Over the following three years he played 39 Bundesliga games and scored two goals. Above all in the difficult 1981/82 season for the Werkself with the play-off games against Kickers Offenbach, he played a big part in saving Bayer 04 with 21 appearances. But under the new coach Dettmar Cramer he rarely made a start and he decided to move on.
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Holger Aden was born in Hamburg on 25 August 1965. He learned all about playing football and, above all, scoring goals at the two Hamburg clubs Niendorfer TSV and TSV DuWo 08 Hamburg. After progression from the youth teams, he played for other Hamburg clubs. One after the other he appeared for Concordia Hamburg, Altona 93 and SC Norderstedt. The centre-forward regularly found the back of the opposition net. He scored 22 goals for SC Norderstedt in the 1988/89 season.
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Michael Ballack was born in Görlitz in the GDR on 26 September 1976. He displayed his talent for football at a young age. After his family moved to Karl-Marx-Stadt, now called Chemnitz, he started playing for BSG Motor ‘Fritz Heckert’ Karl-Marx-Stadt where he constantly continued to develop his ability on the pitch. From year seven he went to the children and youth sports college and there he received systematic support in sport that led, against the background of his increasing ability, to a move to FC Karl-Marx-Stadt. At the age of 16, he had to take a six-month break due to growing pains, but then there was no stopping Michael after that.
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In this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of August. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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