"First of all, I'd like to say a big thank you to Rüdiger Vollborn. He made it possible for some of the players from that team to meet up again here at the BayArena. It's great to be back," said Karl-Heinz Brücken in conversation with the stadium announcers Pitti Dahl and Tobias Ufer at half-time.
The former Leverkusen midfielder provided an insight into the training regime for the team that achieved such success back then that few people would understand today: "We only trained three times a week. That was the most at the amateur level as things were at the time. We all had jobs or were studying." Brücken was a student back then and he joined Bayer 04 from Fortuna Düsseldorf after he came to the attention of the then head coach Theo Kirchberg who offered him a trial and then a contract.
Asked about how the team prepared for matches back then, the 75-year-old Brücken was happy to recall: "We only had 13 outfield players and two keepers in the whole squad – it was simply a completely different time. Although it was possible to substitute players from the 1967/68 season – one player could be replaced. Of course, it was difficult with such a small squad given all the commitments. We met up on Saturdays before matches and often went to the Bergische where we could prepare for matches with walks and discussions. That led to a really good team spirit and that was definitely important for us going on to win the title given the small size of the squad."
A cracker of a semi-final at the Ulrich Haberland Stadium. The Bayer 04 U19 team entertain Bayern Munich on Saturday, 10 May (kick-off: 11:00 CEST/stadium opens: 10:00 CEST). In front of a home crowd, the team led by head coach Sergi Runge, who welcomes back an attacking player, is looking to build on the battling performances from the previous knockout games and "perform at the right moment." Tickets are available from the Bayer 04 online shop and the game will also be broadcast live on Sky.
Show moreBayer 04 have now gone 33 Bundesliga away games in succession without defeat and thereby equalled the record set by Bayern Munich: Jonathan Tah netted the equaliser at 2-2 in added time away to SC Freiburg on his 400th appearance for the Werkself. SCF took a 2-0 lead with a strike from Maximilian Eggestein (44') and a Piero Hincapie own goal (48') before Florian Wirtz pulled a goal back on 82 minutes.
Show moreWerkself-TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 2-2 draw at SC Freiburg on the 32nd matchday of the Bundesliga 2024/25...
Show moreThe Werkself are away to SC Freiburg on Bundesliga Matchday 32. The penultimate away game of the season is today Sunday, 4 May with a 17:30 CEST kick-off at the Europa Park Stadion. Read on for the latest information in today's matchday news.
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