In a match full of counter-attacks, the team led by Willibert Kremer dismantle the Zebras and could have been further ahead than 4-0 after 70 minutes. The two goals scored by Duisburg in the last ten minutes are due to lapses of concentration in the Bayer 04 defence who just appeared to be chaperoning the MSV strikers out of anticipation of reaching the target of another year in the Bundesliga. The game ends in a deserved 4-2 victory.

The last matchday of the 1992/93 season. The stadium is full and Leverkusen are looking forward to the cup final the following week. Nevertheless, this match against Borussia Mönchengladbach still has great significance: On the one hand, it's about securing a place in Europe in the improbable event of a defeat against the Hertha Berlin Reserves a week later, and on the other hand the first win of the top goalscorer trophy by a Bayer 04 player, that is Ulf Kirsten. After his main rival Anthony Yeboah (Eintracht Frankfurt) pulled ahead in the first half, there is huge joy amongst the fans and the team when the 'Schwatte' makes it 2-0 on the hour mark to pull level with Yeboah. The Werkself win 4-0 against Mönchengladbach with Yeboah and Ulf Kirsten both topping the scorers list with 20 goals. The two players are awarded the top goalscorer trophy at the next meeting of Bayer 04 and Eintracht Frankfurt in September 1993. Bayer 04 TV bring you the highlights of the win against the Foals. Click HERE for the video.




A week later, Kirsten is the hero with the much celebrated only goal of the game for the DFB Cup winners of 1993: Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Minas Hantzidis was born on 4 July 1966 in Kettwig, near Essen, and he grew up in Germany. He developed a passion for football at a young age and, whilst still a youth player, moved from Wuppertaler SV to Bayer 04. The attacking and goal-scoring midfielder then made a name for himself in his first senior season at Bayer 04. In the reserve team, he scored goal after goal in the first half of the season, soon began training with the first team and was brought on as a substitute for the first time by manager Erich Ribbeck on 22 November 1985 in a home match against Bayern Munich.
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Sascha was born on 3 July 1986 in Leverkusen. He is the son of former Bundesliga 2 player Manfred Dum, who mainly scored goals for Union Solingen but also played for FC Saarbrücken, SC Freiburg and Wuppertaler SV. Sascha started playing for the youth teams at HSV Langenfeld at an early age. There, he caught the eye of scouts from Bayer 04 and joined the club at a young age. Following a growth spurt in the U15 team, which forced him to take a nine-month break, the left-footed player finally had the ideal conditions to establish himself in the Bayer 04 youth ranks. Even as an U17 player, he made the leap into the U19 team. Blessed with immense pace, Sascha primarily played in attacking midfield. Not the most technically gifted, but possessing a powerful shot, he found himself training with the first team in the summer of 2005 alongside Gonzalo Castro, while he was still a U19 player.
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The Werkself could not have hoped for a better start to the Bundesliga 2 North season in 1976/77. At the end of a week-long training camp in Quickborn, Schleswig-Holstein, coach Willibert Kremer’s side secured two convincing victories over BSC Brunsbüttel (5–0) and TuS Holstein Quickborn (6–0). Following this flying start, Bayer 04 faced a considerably tougher challenge on 23 July 1976 at 19:30 CEST at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium against Bundesliga side Karlsruher SC.
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On 27 June 2001, new head coach Klaus Toppmöller and his assistant Peter Hermann led the Werkself out of the changing rooms for their first training session. Joining them as they stepped onto the pitch at training ground 1 were the four new signings: Hans Jörg Butt, Yildiray Bastürk (with special permission from VfL Bochum, as Bayer 04 and VfL had not yet agreed on a transfer fee), Zoltan Sebescen and Michael Zepek, the record holder for appearances for the youth national team.
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Hans Sarpei was born on 28 June 1976 in Tema, Ghana, and came to Germany with his parents at the age of three, where he grew up in Cologne. Even before he was born, his mother and father worked in Hamburg in the import-export sector. There they met an older man who introduced them to German culture and supported them. Out of gratitude, Hans was later given his first name, although this man died before he was born. Hans comes from a sporting family; his older brother Edward and his nephews Hans Nunoo Sarpei and Kingsley Sarpei were or are also professional footballers.
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