What the papers say: 'A gift of a game'

Die Welt declares: "Both teams set out to get on the front foot from the start and provided top entertainment."

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung opts for the headline 'A crazy Sunday afternoon' and reports: "Matches like these, that filled matchday 17 in the Bundesliga with goalmouth action galore, brings fans to the stadiums. With more clinical finishing, the game  could have ended with a 6-6 scoreline – with the Leverkusen having a slight advantage. The opening goal scored by the Werkself, one of the many special moments in this memorable encounter, was described as follows: "After a wonderful cross from Lars Bender, Julian Brandt produced a perfect volley to score. The beautiful sound of a footballer striking the ball cleanly and with power and it hitting the back of the net was clearly to be heard in a stadium with little atmosphere."

The Kölner Stadt Anzeiger  reports: "Heiko Herrlich  left the HDI Arena with a slightly hoarse voice. The Bayer 04 Leverkusen coach and 32,800 spectators witnessed a memorable match in Hanover. 90 exciting, and partly crazy, minutes between (Hannover) 96 and the Werkself ended all square at 4-4. 'A result like that is a cross to bear for us as coaches because, of course, we like to see clean sheets,' said Herrlich. 'If I was to analyse everything in detail with the substitutions and the errors then we'd be here till the morning'.",

The headline in the Kölnische Rundschau: 'Eight goal spectacular'

The summary in the Express: "Incredible, eight goals in a fantastically entertaining Sunday match."

The Bild Zeitung  reads, as befits the season: 'Festive eight goal party' and sums up: "A gift of a game! Seven days before 24 December,  Hannover and Leverkusen gifted all followers of football eight goals and a wonderful match."