UEFA Cup 88 – Reinhardt hits the bull's-eye

30 years ago today, on 6 April 1988, Bayer 04 beat favourites Werder Bremen 1-0 in the semi-final first leg match in the UEFA Cup. The difference on the night was that made by a man who rarely stood out as a goalscorer during his professional career.

After the shock against the great Barcelona comes the all-German semi-final against Werder Bremen – the excitement after the draw was within bounds at Leverkusen. It was not only a tie against the league leaders in the Bundesliga but again the first leg was at home. The Bundesliga fixture list pitched the two teams against each other at the Weser Stadium two weeks before the UEFA Cup match – which served as a dress rehearsal for the clash in the semi-final on the European stage. It was a spectacular end-to-end affair. Christian Schreier scored a brace to put the Werkself 2-0 up at half-time. But the roof came off the Werder stadium after the restart: The league leaders mounted continuous pressure and Karl-Heinz Riedle pulled a goal back before Manni Burgsmüller scored twice to seal victory for favourites. Or so everybody thought and that included Bayer 04 coach Erich Ribbeck who stormed out of the dugout and disappeared into the stands after the third Bremen goal. He missed added time and a free kick for his team from 30 yards out – Tita placed the ball and then fired an unstoppable shot into the top right corner to level the scores at 3-3. "I knew Tita would score another so I didn't need to see it," was Ribbeck's curt response after the final whistle.

However, while the coach was still fuming about the 2-0 lead given away, "we saw that we’d get our chances," said goalkeeper Rüdiger Vollborn after the game. Four days later, Bayer 04 clocked up a deserved 3-2 victory against Schalke in the Bundesliga and then look to continue that form against newly promoted Hannover 96. That plan failed to work out: Leverkusen received a hiding and left the pitch with their tails between their legs after a disastrous 6-1 defeat. Bayer 04 had conceded eleven goals within a week, which was not very settling ahead of the forthcoming European clash with the Werder.

When the two teams, on this this Wednesday night, 6 April, ran onto the pitch at the building site that was the Haberland Stadium, the 15,000 supporters in the ground did not necessarily feel the sense of European excitement. As befits a match between the two German teams, the Greek referee was called Germanikos. As restrained as the crowd in the stands was, the action on the pitch was also limited in excitement. The Werkself and Werder were primarily concerned with keeping a clean sheet. Bremen, with three strikers (Neubarth, Riedle, Ordenewitz), had a slight advantage but scarcely created decent chances. Then came the crucial moment of the game just after the hour mark. Christian Schreier, the Bayer 04 goalscorer on duty, was brought down by Borowka during a counter attack down the right and he suffered a groin injury that kept him out of action for the following weeks. Florian Hinterberger put the resulting free kick into the penalty area where the Bremen captain Votava only managed to half clear the ball and, on the edge of the box, Alois Reinhardt hit the ball on the turn with pace into the net off the inside of the post (61'). 1-0 for the hosts and a spirited defensive performance secured the victory.

"I didn't score many goals as a central defender so that's why I'm particularly proud of this goal. It was definitely the most important goal of my career and an incredibly emotional moment for me. Bremen were really big team at the time and soon after that went on to be champions of Germany," said the goalscorer. Therefore, it was clear to everybody at Bayer 04 that Werder would have the quality to turn the narrow defeat round in the return game at their own ground. "Was 1-0 a good result? And what exactly is a good result against a team that lost 4-1 to Spartak Moscow in the first leg and then made that up by winning 6-2 at home?," were two questions that Rüdiger Vollborn asked himself at the time. On that Wednesday night at Leverkusen, all eyes after the final whistle at the Haberland Stadium were on the second leg at the Weser Stadium on 20 April. It was to be a defensive battle that would prove to be exhausting.

Match stats:

Bayer 04: Vollborn – Hörster – Hinterberger, Seckler, A. Reinhardt – Cha, Schreier (Götz 61'), Tita (Buncol 75'), Rolff, Täuber – Waas

Werder Bremen: Reck – Sauer – Bratseth, Borowka – Wolter, Votava, Hermann, Otten – Neubarth, Riedle, Ordenewitz (Meier 67')

Goals: 1-0 A. Reinhardt (61’)

Referee: Germanikos (Greece)

Booked: Seckler – Borowka, Neubarth

Attendance: 15,000

Here is the TV report on the semi-final first leg against Werder Bremen: