Match of the month: 45 years ago - A victory is needed

On 19 points, the Werkself are 13th in the table, just two points ahead of the relegation zone. Despite a fantastic 3-0 win against FC Bayern, when Arne Larsen Ökland scored a hat-trick two weeks earlier, the situation for Bayer 04 had not improved noticeably. The spectre of relegation hung over the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.

Bayer 04 therefore have to win the home game on 21 March 1981 against Fortuna Düsseldorf, who are only two places ahead of the Werkself on 21 points. Without the two injured regulars Dietmar Demuth and Markus Elmer as well as Thomas Hörster, who was suspended for a game, the Werkself fielded the following line-up in front of 12,000 spectators at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium:

Fred Bockholt - Walter Posner, Jürgen Gelsdorf, Peter Klimke, Peter Hermann, Klaus Bruckmann, Jürgen Glowacz (Horst Knauf 81’), Harry Gniech, Wolfgang Vöge, Arne Larsen Ökland, Peter Szech (Dieter Herzog 66’)

For Bayer 04 president Dr Jürgen Schwericke, the excitement of the last few weeks was too much. Instead of nervously wandering up and down the stadium as he usually did at home matches, he preferred the solitude of a walk in the woods and missed a 2-0 victory for coach Willibert Kremer's team that he thought was not possible with such ease. His team played with fire in their belly after losing away at Dortmund and Kaiserslautern, mainly due to poor refereeing.

Walter Posner on top form

Bayer 04's best player was defender Walter Posner, who had already marked out world-class player Karl-Heinz Rummenigge by fair means two weeks earlier in the match against Bayern. And now, on this Saturday afternoon, he would not give Düsseldorf’s international Klaus Allofs an inch. Walter Posner, of all people, had not yet extended his contract, which was set to run out at the end of the season, although a financial agreement has already been reached with Bayer 04 general manager Heinz Heitmann. Posner did not have offers from other clubs, but instead the opportunity to take over an insurance agency. Today we know that he decided in favour of Bayer 04 a few weeks later.

Fortuna barely had a chance to score for the entire match. Bayer 04 coach Willibert Kremer's concept of not running into a trap against a Düsseldorf team known as a counter-attacking team and instead creating danger and scoring chances from a secure defence with quick counter-attacks was one hundred per cent successful.

Peter Szech and Wolfgang Vöge score against Fortuna

Whenever Werkself attacks were launched by the industrious Jürgen Glowacz and Peter Hermann and turned into shots on goal by Wolfgang Vöge and Arne Larsen Ökland, the shaky Fortuna defence was under pressure. Leverkusen's lead through Peter Szech, who converted Ökland's cross to make it 1-0 in the 15th minute, was entirely justified. Bayer 04 initially failed to add a second goal, but Wolfgang Vöge scored on 61 minutes to settle the Werkself fans.

In the end, it was a well-deserved 2-0 home win. Bayer 04 finished eleventh in the second Bundesliga season in 1980/81 - a thoroughly satisfactory position for the time.