What a Gala! Eintracht Frankfurt had an absolutely great day against Werder Bremen on 14 November 1981, setting off offensive fireworks against the visitors and spoiling their own fans with a 9:2 thumping victory. A look back 40 years later.
No, the pointer just wouldn’t turn faster, just as SVW coach Otto Rehhagel had fervently wished on the bench. Werder, who had confidently travelled to the Waldstadion as promoted teams and fifth in the table with one point more in their account, were to experience a debacle. But let’s take it one step at a time.
Rülanders breakdown show
At first, Bremen’s self-confidence was given further nourishment as Meier took the lead after just seven minutes for the perky promoted side, who had everything under control for 20 minutes. But then it was not only Rülander’s own goal (20th) that upset Werder. The substitute keeper stood in for the number one, the injured Burdenski – not a good idea, as an investigation by “NDR” later revealed: Rülander had concealed a car accident, the 21-year-old was suffering from a concussion, and the youngster subsequently missed more often.
The Frankfurt protagonists: Borchers and Nachtweih
Rülander and his front men were now faced with an SGE that, inspired by the equaliser, turned up the heat. Especially in the person of Borchers, who returned after a five-week injury layoff and scored a flawless hat-trick – his first in the Bundesliga – by the break (24th, 40th, 43rd). “We played insanely well today,” said the Eintracht striker, “you have to think back a long time, to the days of Grabowski and Hölzenbein, until you come across a game we won in this manner. “
Rehagel’s nascent hopes were quickly dashed when the only Werder player in normal form, Reinders, reduced the score to 2:4 (64th). After that, disaster really struck the Bremen team. Nachtweih, who was just as brilliant as Borchers, scored twice (71st, 74th) to make it 5:2 and 6:2. Especially when Cha (78th, after which Rehhagel replaced Rülander) and Nickel (80th) scored a second double in the Frankfurt storm. “Man, did we take them apart,” Nachtweih marvelled at his own attacking whirlwind. “We played ourselves into a real frenzy. “
Whether Rehhagel had lost the plot in the end, like his team? “This is Eintracht. Here you can win 2:0 or you can also catch eight goals.” Because Cha also scored the brace (89th), it became nine.
HSV completes the half dozen – Cologne, Bayern and Gladbach in step
Late champions HSV remained top of the table after Matchday 14, celebrating a 6-1 win over Darmstadt with six different scorers. Three players scored twice each for the likewise victorious pursuers: A Woodcock brace set up the 3-0 derby victory of second-placed Cologne against Düsseldorf, while Breitner also scored twice in Bayern’s 3-0 win over Stuttgart and Mill in Gladbach’s 3-1 win over Bielefeld. All in all, there were plenty of goals, and the 14th matchday was one of the highest-scoring in Bundesliga history with 44 goals.
