Unfortunately, the training facilities are not so good. The pitch is very uneven and there's not much sign of grass. Training is usually held three times a day in the summer pre-season. Everybody is working hard for the next challenge in the UEFA Cup against Barcelona. We have a tournament and draw 1-1 with HSV but then lose 2-1 against the then Spanish second division side CD Teneriffa. The training camp ends with a 3-0 victory against CF Puerta de la Cruz, another club on the island. But training has priority.
The best anecdote from the training camp is provided by an incident after the match against HSV: We were staying in the same hotel as a former second division referee. In the evening before the game against HSV there was a bet with Reiner 'Calli' Calmund. It was a matter of the sprinting abilities of the two gentlemen, to be more exact about who would finish first across the length of the pitch. The former referee was really fit and Calli still somewhat slimmer than for his marriage but he was considered to be fat. Calli, given a 20 metre start for this race, lifted up his belly with both hands and at the sound of the starting pistol he sets off over the pitch with treble steps like Ben Johnson. The spectators are crying with laughter. His fellow competitor comes nearer and nearer, Calli's trousers start slipping and almost bring him into a stumble. But, in the end, he gets to the target with a slight lead. The bet was for a bottle of champagne that Calli shares with his guests in the evening with great pleasure and a wide grin.
We played in Nuremberg on 20 February 1988. We lost 2-1 in a very decent match where we did not take our chances. The first home fixture of the New Year against Borussia Mönchengladbach was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for the game against Barcelona but unfortunately the match was postponed. So we only had one match in preparation for our first big dual against one of the world famous clubs. That happened in Cologne at the Müngersdorfer Stadium. But that was in March.
In this video you can watch impressive and important goals in the history of Bayer 04 in the month of October. It is not always about the beauty of the goals but also about remembering special games and players.
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The Werkself secured victory against Bayern Munich for the first time on 1 November 1986. On matchday 12, Bayer 04 beat the Bundesliga league leaders 3-0 at the Olympic Stadium in Munich and go top of the table.
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Torben Hoffman was born in Kiel on 27 October 1974. In his youth he played for TuS Schwarz-Weiß Elmschershagen. The qualified policeman joined Holstein Kiel in 1993. Two years later he moved on to VfB Lübeck in Bundesliga two. After relegation with Lübeck in 1997 he came to attention of SC Freiburg and they signed the defender. The team relegated from the Bundesliga went straight back up with Torben who moved under the Bayer Cross in 1999 after another year in the Bundesliga. However, he was unable to establish himself at Leverkusen making only sporadic appearances and he was rarely in the starting XI. He played in a total of 30 games for the Werkself.
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Thomas ‘Thommy’ Reichenberger was born in Bad Kreuznach on 14 October 1974. The son of a former Bundesliga player – his father Max made 38 Bundesliga appearances for 1860 Munich – played for Eintracht Bad Kreuznach as a youth player before moving up to the first team.
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Manfred ‘Manni’ Pomp was born in Aachen on 25 October 1964. His first football club was the Aachen police sports club (PSV) but he signed for Alemannia Aachen after a year.
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