In March 1997, there was a four-way race for the title. Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich were top on 46 points, our team and VfB Stuttgart in third and fourth on 44. Matchday 25 brings fifth-placed Schalke 04 to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium.
A hard-fought encounter ends with the Werkself winning 2-0 with goals from Ulf Kirsten and Erich Meijer and they move up into second place two points behind league leaders Bayern Munich. The second goal from Erich Meijer was voted Goal of the Month for March 1997 by viewers of the ARD Sportschau. Here is the line-up:
Bayer 04: Dirk Heinen – Christian Wörns, Jens Nowotny, Robert Kovac, Hans-Peter Lehnhoff (Claudio Reyna 89’), Carsten Ramelow, Ze Elias (Rene Rydlewicz 46’), Paulo Sergio, Markus Happe, Ulf Kirsten (Andreas Neuendorf 85’), Erik Meijer
In March 2002, the leaders Bayer 04 travel to Kaiserslautern to play the Red Devils at their Betzenberg ground. Ulf Kirsten opened the scoring after 11 seconds and that remains the fastest goal in the history the Bundesliga. When Olli Neuville doubled the lead 15 minutes later, it looks like the Werkself have comfortably mastered a tough away game in the Pfalz.
However, the hosts equalise on 55 minutes and the victory looks to be in danger. But Michael Ballack (from the penalty spot) and substitute Dimitar Berbatov get the Werkself back on track. With five games to play, the Bayer team are in top spot four points ahead of Borussia Dortmund following the 4-2 win. Here is the line-up from that game:
Bayer 04: Jörg Butt – Zoltan Sebescen, Lucio, Jens Nowotny, Diego Placente, Carsten Ramelow, Bernd Schneider, Michael Ballack, Oliver Neuville (Dimitar Berbatov 81’), Ulf Kirsten (Boris Zivkovic 54’), Thomas Brdaric (Thomas Kleine 89’)
Here are the TV highlights.
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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