It's matchday 29 on Friday, 25 April 1997 and the run-in at the end of the season has started. Bayer 04 are three points behind league leaders Bayern Munich in second place and are set to entertain Werder Bremen who have had a mixed season. The Werkself take charge of proceedings straightaway and push Bremen back in their own half. After Ulf Kirsten opened the scoring on 23 minutes, his opponent Jens Lellek committed a bad foul on our centre forward eight minutes later and the referee Dr Markus Merk showed him the red card.
Bremen then formed a defensive wall in front of their box and chances were carelessly missed. The result appeared to be sealed after the second strike from our record goalscorer with a penalty but a goal from Werder Bremen caused unnecessary concern. The match ended in a deserved win for Bayer 04 who kept Bayern under pressure.
Bayer 04 are top of the table with a five-point lead and three games to play. With two home games against Werder Bremen and Hertha Berlin and an away fixture against relegation threatened FC Nürnberg in between, there is great confidence under the Bayer Cross that the Bundesliga 'Schale' can finally be brought to Leverkusen.
However, Werder Bremen needed every point in the race for a UEFA Cup place and they disrupted the Bayer team's flow with aggressive pressing from the start. The first setback on five minutes: Krisztian Lisztes opened the scoring for Werder with a hopeful long-range effort. Bayer 04 were able to apply more pressure after the half-hour mark and Zé Roberto netted the equaliser on 32 minutes. There was great celebration in the stands when referee Alfons Berg awarded a questionable penalty seven minutes later. But the Bayer 04 fans soon fell silent. The otherwise so reliable penalty taker Jörg Butt had his spot kick saved by the Bremen keeper Frank Rost. But nobody was unduly worried by the 1-1 scoreline at half-time.
But there was disquiet after an hour when Bremen went ahead again, particularly as the Werkself were pressing but unable to create any chances. At the end of the day, our team dropped three important points in the title race but still had two games to play to reach the finishing line with a two-point cushion.
Here are the TV highlights of the game against Werder Bremen
Claus-Dieter, known as ‘Pele’, Wollitz was born in Brakel on 19 July 1965 in Brakel. He earned the nickname of the Brazilian global super star at the age of six because he was able to the juggle the ball for a long time as a child. What was originally meant as a stunt would follow him all his life. Every football fan associates the name Wollwitz with his nickname: Pele.
Show moreJosé Roberto da Silva Junior, Zé Roberto for short, was born in the Brazilian city of São Paulo on 6 July 1974. He started playing football at the Pequeninos de Joquey soccer school at the age of seven. Via the club Palestra Sao Bernardo, the left footer moved on to the professional club Portuguesa de Desportos where he made his debut in 1994.
Show more25 years ago, the Bayer 04 U19 team under their two coaches Thomas Hörster and Dirk Dreher were Regional League West champions and thereby participants in the finals of the German championship.
Show moreAfter promotion to Bundesliga 2, the football boss Hermann Bacall had his hands full putting together a powerful team. For the first training session at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium on 14 July 1975 there were nine new signings including five players who became regular starters in the team that won promotion to the Bundesliga in 1979.
Show moreAfter the success of the previous year, the gymnastics and sports club Leverkusen hold the ‘Wiesdorfer Sportwoche’ week of sports for a second time (the city of Leverkusen is only founded in 1930). The week of sport started on Sunday, 12 July 1925. In the years before World War I there were municipal gymnastics and games festivals. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the club in 1924 the board and many helping hands started the week of sports. An internal municipal games festival developed into a national event which made a name for itself after a year particularly due to the relay element.
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