The 111 All-Time Greatest Bundesliga Games

Rank #72

Borussia Mönchengladbach 5
1. FC Kaiserslautern 1



Place: Mönchengladbach, Bökelberg
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 25 November 1978
Attendance: 27,514
Referee: Joos (Stuttgart)

Goal Scorers:
1-0 Simonsen 4
2-0 Simonsen 28
2-1 Geye 37
3-1 Del’Haye 54
4-1 Kulik 67
5-1 Bruns 90



Commentary:
Kaiserslautern was unbeaten in the league for 14 straight games, had shown some strong performances like beating VfB Stuttgart 5-1, Hertha BSC 3-0 at Berlin, BVB 3-2 at Dortmund and Bayern München 2-1. Not unsurprisingly, Kaiserslautern headed the Bundesliga table with a comforting three points lead over Hamburg. It looked as if this was Kaiserslautern’s great year. For Mönchengladbach, the situation was almost the opposite. The team was only three points above relegation, crucial players like Berti Vogts and Allan Simonsen had been out with long-lasting injuries, the instrumental Herbert 'Hacki' Wimmer and Jupp Heynckes had retired and Rainer Bonhof had joined Valencia in Spain. This was Borussia’s worst year in the Bundesliga since they got promoted in 1965. Kaiserslautern as a team also were the opposite to Mönchengladbach, relying mainly on their physical attributes, toughness and stamina were their character traits, opposed to Gladbach’s traditionally more sophisticated approach. One positive aspect for Gladbach was the return of their Danish worldclass forward Allan Simonsen after a seven week break. The great shape he was in after such a lengthy break could not have been foreseen by anyone and hence came as a most welcome surprise. Simonsen was clearly the ‘man of the match’ for Gladbach, leading his teammates to a highly convincing win in the ‘old’ style of Borussia, showing that the virtues of old were still intact. Additionally, B.M.G. also uncovered many weaknesses in the Kaiserslautern side, a side that had been deemed ‘invincible’ in the weeks prior to this game. Kaiserslautern lost so many direct duels it came as a real eye-opener to the other teams, suddenly they looked cut and dried, especially the defense and the midfield (which was totally dominated by Gladbach) showed many weaknesses.

Skipper Allan Simonsen, though not yet fully back to his old form, convinced as the driving force in midfield and executor in front of the goal at the same time, while Gladbach’s other strong player, center back Frank Schäffer, was at the center of a flawless defense. The most surprising feature of Borussia’s game was that they kept on attacking the Kaiserslautern goal even after the match had clearly been decided. Gladbach was still engaged in a difficult UEFA Cup tie with Slask Wroclaw and no one would have blamed the players if they had cut down their efforts after their fourth goal yet they kept on attacking with vehemence, no doubt spurred by the great performance after weeks of disappointments. Yet unfortunately for Gladbach, this electrifying performance proved to be the exception to the rule in that troublesome season, as they dropped down early in 1979, having to fight off relegation in all earnest. It was only the resurrection of skipper and ‘heart’ of Gladbach, Berti Vogts that instilled a new spirit of survival among his teammates that saved them from the bitter fate of relegation. Despite all the trouble they faced that year, Gladbach still managed to win the UEFA Cup that same season. It was to be the last trophy the club would win, as the great era of Borussia Mönchengladbach was slowly but surely coming to an end.


-------------------------------------------Borussia Mönchengladbach

---------------------------------------------------------Kneib

----------------------------------W.Schäfer-----Wohlers----Schäffer----Dudek

---------------------------------------------------------Bruns

--------------------------------------------------Kulik----------C.Nielsen

---------------------------------------Del’Haye-----Simonsen-------Lienen

------------------------------------------------Manager: Udo Lattek


-----------------------------------------------1. FC Kaiserslautern

-------------------------------------------Pirrung---K.Toppmöller---Geye

------------------------------------------------Bongartz---------Riedl

---------------------------------------------------------Schwarz

----------------------------------------Briegel----Neues---Melzer----Groh

-------------------------------------------------------Hellström

------------------------------------------------Manager: Udo Lattek

Subs:
46 Wendt in, Pirrung out
55 Lausen in, Dudek out
73 Gores in, Nielsen out
73 Dobiasch in, Bongartz out

 

Rank #71

Bayern München 0
FC Hansa Rostock 1



Place: Munich, Olympiastadion
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 27 April 1996
Attendance: 62,000
Referee: Aust (Cologne)

Goal Scorer:
0-1 Akpoborie 63



Commentary:
Both Bayern and Otto Rehhagel probably had thought it was a great idea linking the most successful German club with one of the most successful German managers. But it all went wrong. Club, players and manager never got along, there was constant squabble between all parties earning Bayern the nickname “FC Hollywood” (replacing the “Dreamteam” moniker from before the start of the season) and the media loved it. While there was enough substance in the team to play successfully in the league and the UEFA Cup, it was obvious already from the start that this unlikely liaison would not last very long. After this disastrous home defeat against a brilliantly playing Rostock side, Rehhagel got sacked (compensated by getting 2 million D-Mark) and Franz Beckenbauer took over the reigns at Bayern. Although he couldn’t help Bayern win the Bundesliga title (Dortmund proved way too strong), he fully concentrated on the two UEFA Cup finals vs. Girondins Bordeaux (who featured Zinedine Zidane and Bixente Lizarazu among others). It was very important to all Bayern officials to finally win a European trophy after a wait of 20 years and Beckenbauer pulled it off in impressive style, beating Girondins home (2-0) and away (3-1). With Rehhagel at the helm, it would have been very likely to end in a disaster, as the players and the former Werder manager were totally opposed to each other at that time. Although this game wasn't particularly outstanding, it had to be included due to historic significance.


---------------------------------------------Bayern München

------------------------------------------------------Kahn

----------------------------------------------------Matthäus

----------------------------------------Babbel-----------------Helmer

------------------------------------Strunz--------Nerlinger--------Ziege

---------------------------------------------Scholl----------Sforza

---------------------------------------Klinsmann------------Witeczek

------------------------------------------Manager: Otto Rehhagel


-------------------------------------------FC Hansa Rostock

-----------------------------------------Akpoborie------Chalaskiewicz

--------------------------------Studer----Rehbein----Beinlich----Weilandt

------------------------------Lange---------------März----------R.Schneider

----------------------------------------------------Zallmann

---------------------------------------------------Bräutigam

---------------------------------------Manager: Frank Pagelsdorf

Subs:
46 Breitkreutz in, Rehbein out
65 Baumgart in, Chalaskiewicz out
66 Herzog in, Witeczek out
67 Papin in, Nerlinger out
77 Ehlers in, Breitkreutz out

 

Rank #70

1. FC Kaiserslautern 3
Bayern München 1



Place: Ludwigshafen, Südwest-Stadion
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 18 November 1972
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Basedow (Hamburg)

Goal Scorers:
1-0 Hosic 28
2-0 Hosic 40
3-0 Seel 59
3-1 Roth 88


Commentary:
Only three days earlier six men of the Bayern side that got dismembered by a rampant Kaiserslautern side took part in one of the finest displays of Germany's early 1970s football prowess when West Germany beat Switzerland 5-1 in the inaugurational game of Düsseldorf’s Rheinstadion. The same players that got praised for their inventive and modern style of playing football were suddenly the subject of scorn and laughter. They had to realize that fervor, verve and enthusiasm could still make a side of more or less mediocre players overcome their deficiencies to beat a side that was considered a figurehead of the modern, advanced approach to football. Sepp Herberger was attendant at the game and later commented: “Der Kampfgeist war’s!”

Bayern players later commented that they didn’t take the game as seriously as they ought to, an inexplicable negligent attitude for professional football players. Paul Breitner for example only showed 30 percent of his performance from the Switzerland game three days earlier, his coach Udo Lattek criticized. But also Katsche Schwarzenbeck, Gerd Müller and Franz Beckenbauer harshly fell out of the clouds. It had paid off for Kaiserslautern to have hired Ludwighafen’s larger Südwest-Stadion for this game. The excitement and intimidation was on the same level as in their own Betzenberg “Hexenkessel” with the added bonus of a larger crowd raising the box-office takings. The Südwest-Stadion for the first time in years was sold out. The 90 minutes were characterized by rough hand to hand duels, physical commitment, zeal instead of reason, or in other words: the typical David vs. Goliath / Kaiserslautern vs. Bayern scenario.

Bayern were just about to ride out Kaiserslautern’s frantic opening attack when Jürgen ‘Atze’ Friedrich played a 1-2 with Idriz Hosic, with Bayern’s defense showing communicative weaknesses, Hosic came to shot completely importuned from 12 meters. Sepp Maier in goal dived too late as he didn’t have the best view and could only touch the ball with his fingertips: 1-0! For Kaiserslautern this goal proved to be extra stimulating plus the players had ultimately lost any respect for the big names in the Bayern team. Instead of attacking himself, Paul Breitner constantly had to look for Kaiserlautern’s right wing Wolfgang Seel who kept Breitner occupied for most of the 90 minutes. With Kaiserslautern having a firm grip on the game, their second goal was only a matter of time. A throughball by playmaker Friedrich to Hosic who neatly navigated past Franz Beckenbauer and then fired a shot towards the Bayern goal that left Sepp Maier without a chance to parry. The second half became a mirror image of the first half, Beckenbauer continued to lose most duels and Schwarzenbeck was whistled whenever he was on the ball due to a foul on Kaiserslautern’s favorite player, left winger Josef ‘Sepp’ Pirrung. The third goal fit perfectly into the trist picture that Bayern left in this game, after a corner by Klaus Ackermann, Maier and Schwarzenbeck jumped up but it’s the relatively small Seel that gets his head to the ball: 3-0! Shortly before the end of the game Franz ‘Bulle’ Roth manages a consolation goal. Beckenbauer’s bad form could partly be explained by the fact that a bomb threat was directed at him on Friday and that he probably had his mind on other things during the game (remember this was the time of terrorism in Germany, Baader-Meinhof etc., so it was definitely conceived as a real danger).

Bayern’s 1972-73 Bundesliga campaign in hindsight looks like it had been a convincingly superior affair but shortly before the winter break, Bayern was attacked by Fortuna Düsseldorf who came very close to toppling them from the league table. More on that later...


-------------------------------------------1. FC Kaiserslautern

----------------------------------------------------Stabel

-------------------------------Huber----Schwager----Diehl----Fuchs

--------------------------------------Friedrich------Bitz------Hosic

------------------------------------------Seel------Pirrung----Ackermann

-----------------------------------------Manager: Dietrich Weise


----------------------------------------------Bayern München

---------------------------------W.Hoffmann----G.Müller-----Krauthausen

--------------------------------------Zobel-----U.Hoeness-------Roth

--------------------------Breitner---Schwarzenbeck--Beckenbauer---Hansen

-------------------------------------------------------Maier

----------------------------------------------Manager: Udo Lattek

Subs:
63 Dürnberger in, Krauthausen out

 

Thanks for the tip. Sounds a wee bit too technical for me, though.

 

The formation is only referring to this game, where Braunschweig were surprising their guests by playing an attacking game (for once!). That's why there are four forwards.

But generally the two inside forwards Dulz and Saborowski were actually midfielders that moved forward when attacking and Walter Schmidt regularly strengthened central defense together with Kaack and Bäse sweeping up behind them. Braunschweig's strengths at defending was not only due to amassing many players in front of their goal, though, it came from the individual brilliance of the four-five defensive players, who were absolutely stellar that year, especially Bäse and Kaack. With Dulz and Saborowski often playing in midfield, Braunschweig usually was left with the two wingers Klaus Gerwien and Erich Maas as sole forwards. Lothar Ulsaß frequently came from behind acting as a center forward once they needed to attack. Thus Braunschweig were playing a 4-4-2 oftentimes, which could be changed to 1-4-3-2 (when Schmidt joined central defense) or to 4-3-3 (when Ulsaß acted as CF). Or, like in this featured game, a then very common 4-2-4.

 

Since you are a Juve fan, you surely remember the great European Cup encounter they had with Braunschweig in January/February 1968? Especially the first leg at Braunschweig was a neat little game (I have it on tape). Juve had many supporters in the stadium that were cheering for them, as there were many Italian guest workers in Germany back then. Juve scored the first goal after 10 minutes (Favelli), but Braunschweig turnt the game around in ten erratic, legendary minutes, scoring three goals (Kaack, Dulz, Berg) between the 28th and 39th minutes. Eight minutes before time Juve manage to score a second goal (Zagoni). The second leg Juve won 1-0, scoring with a penalty in the 88th minute. Since there was no away goals rule, both teams had to meet a third time, and again Juve won 1-0, this time in Berne, by a goal from Swede Magnusson.

I had to include some more recent games. It will be a rare occurrence, though.

That Hamburg formation was 3-3-3-1.

I usually take the formations directly from Kicker magazine, this is what they said:

Ujfalusi and Reinhardt were meant to mark Klasnic and Ailton with Hoogma as libero between these two. In the defensive midfield trio, Fukal and Wicky were meant to mark Borowski and Lagerblom while Schlicke was covering Micoud. The offensive midfield trio (Mahdavikia, Barbarez, Benjamin) was meant to support the sole striker Hleb up front.

The coach that came up with this tactic was the one and only Klaus Toppmöller (a.k.a. "Sideshow Bob").

 

Rank #69

1. FC Köln 3
Eintracht Frankfurt 5



Place: Köln, Müngersdorfer Stadion
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 18 November 1989
Attendance: 31,000
Referee: Föckler (Weisenheim)

Goal Scorers:
0-1 Eckstein 7
1-1 Hässler 10
1-2 Eckstein 12
2-2 Rahn 24
2-3 Falkenmayer 50
2-4 Andersen 62
3-4 Littbarski 64
3-5 Eckstein 90



Commentary:
This was one of the most outstanding Bundesliga games of the 1980s. After the match both managers (Christoph Daum and Jörg Berger) bandied compliments and congratulated each other on the fine display of each side, agreeing that none of the two teams had deserved to lose. However it was a bit embarrassing to Cologne’s coach Christoph Daum to have conceded five goals at home after he had loudmouthed that his side would definitely top the table before the winter break. Eintracht Frankfurt was the surprise team of the 1989-90 season. The club had narrowly avoided relegation the previous season but with the acquisition of Uwe Bein (who came from Hamburg) the team was transformed. Uwe Bein had been labelled ‘eternal talent’ as he was a very gifted player that never really managed to break through. This was about to change when he returned to his native Hessen. Bein played arguably his best ever season and was called up to play for West Germany in the 1990 World Cup. Frankfurt had always been a club that had attached great importance to a technical style of play and this proved to be the ideal surroundings for Uwe Bein, himself one of the most technically gifted players of his generation (and the player who perfected the art of the "deadly pass"). Cologne had just climbed to the top of the Bundesliga table the previous week after a 2-0 away win at Hamburg, while Frankfurt had dropped to the fifth position after a 1-1 home draw vs. Karlsruhe. Hence Cologne were expected to remain victorious in this encounter, as they too possessed a very gifted side that featured Pierre Littbarski and Thomas Hässler (a.k.a. "the Magic Dwarves") in midfield. With the offensive players on both sides in good spirits, nothing stood in the way for this encounter to become a spectacular game full of technical subtleties, especially since the defenders on Cologne’s side as well as their goalie Bodo Illgner had a particularly bad day. Illgner was the young number one keeper of the West German national side, but in this game he made three embarrassing mistakes that allowed Frankfurt three goals. On the other side of the pitch, former national keeper Uli Stein showed a brilliant performance and it became tough for Germany manager Franz Beckenbauer to stick to Illgner while the media was demanding him to give Stein another chance (remember that Beckenbauer had kicked the temperamental Stein out of the 1986 World Cup squad after he had insulted the Kaiser).

The victory at Cologne was especially sweet to Uwe Bein as he had a hard time when he played for the club as Christoph Daum did not believe in Bein who felt ignored by the manager. Cologne’s defeat wasn’t all due to Illgner’s blunders but also largely to Daum’s arrogant decision not to mark Uwe Bein, as if he wanted to prove to him that he still wasn’t anything special. How it backfired! Bein was the great conductor of his team, addressing his flawlessly measured passes to his teammates at will. Olaf Janssen was no hindrance to Bein. Forwards Jörn Andersen and especially Dieter Eckstein were a constant danger to the Cologne defenders. Alfons Higl was meant to mark Eckstein, but was very troubled. Eckstein was playing so well nobody could have argued against him being called up by Beckenbauer, but Beckenbauer relied on Völler, Klinsmann and Riedle. Christoph Daum realized too late that it was time for a substitute, the Polish "ball perfectionist" Andrzej Rudy would have been a welcome addition to the Cologne side in the last 30 minutes when they were desperately trying to score the equalizer. After the game club president Bernd Hölzenbein predicted that Frankfurt was fit for a place in the UEFA Cup, which they indeed managed. With regards to Cologne, there were some doubts if the side had enough substance to win the Bundesliga title that season and these doubts were well-founded as Cologne only managed to run up behind Bayern for a second straight time (Frankfurt ended third). This was to be Cologne’s last "great" season, as Thomas Hässler left the club (amid many tears) to join Juventus and Pierre Littbarski wasn’t getting any younger in the early 1990s. The team got worse and worse over the years and by 1998 they got finally relegated. Frankfurt’s story was very similar, after Andy Möller had left for Juventus in 1992, the team managed to play a good role in the Bundesliga for two further years, but the Jay Jay Okocha/Anthony Yeboah/Maurizio Gaudino combo fell apart in the 1994-95 season when authoritarian coach Jupp Heynckes felt that he had to make an example of how to deal with ‘too individualistic’ players. From then on, the only way was down for Frankfurt.


--------------------------------------------------1. FC Köln

------------------------------------------------------Illgner

------------------------------------------------------Steiner

------------------------------------------------Higl----------Giske

-----------------------------------------Janssen------------------Görtz

------------------------------------------Hässler-----Rahn-----Littbarski

---------------------------------------------Götz-----------Ordenewitz

-----------------------------------------------Manager: Christoph Daum


----------------------------------------------Eintracht Frankfurt

----------------------------------------------Eckstein-----Andersen

----------------------------------------------Bein-------Falkenmayer

---------------------------------------Studer------Sievers------Klein

------------------------------------------D.Roth-------------Körbel

-------------------------------------------------------Binz

-------------------------------------------------------Stein

----------------------------------------------Manager: Jörg Berger

Subs:
49 R.Sturm in, Görtz out
77 Bindewald in, Klein out
82 Rudy in, Ordenewitz out
86 Bakalorz in, Bein out

 

Rank #68

TSV 1860 München 3
Bayern München 3



Place: Munich, Olympiastadion
Time: Sunday, 6 p.m.
Date: 4 May 1997
Attendance: 69,000
Referee: Weber
Sent off: Ziege 71, Matthäus 83

Goal Scorers:
1-0 Heldt 15
2-0 Heldt 18 pen
2-1 Klinsmann 45
2-2 Scholl 57
3-2 Böhme 82
3-3 Jancker 88



Commentary:
Most of the Munich derbies of the 1990s were pretty exciting but this one here arguably has to rate as the most absorbing of them all. Before this game Bayern were atop the Bundesliga table ahead of Bayer Leverkusen with three points. 1860 had a fine season as well, being placed sixth and thus fighting for a place in the UEFA-Cup. Due to their fine performances that season, 1860 didn’t enter this encounter as the firm outsider like in recent years and this fact definitely lifted the 1860 players, as they demonstrated their new found self-confidence in the first 30 minutes when it looked as if Bayern were in for a rare treat. "1860 – Strong like never before" was the club’s new hymn at that time and how fitting it was. In the second minute 1860’s tall forward Olaf Bodden found himself unmarked after a corner, which allowed him to head the ball towards the Bayern goal where Oliver Kahn parried, immediately after that first opportunity came the next when Kahn in the last second managed to direct the ball over the crossbar after a cross by Horst Heldt. Attack after attack rolled towards the Bayern goal (who were the home team after all) with the league leader not even showing the will to resist to the 1860 steamroller. Sweeper Lothar Matthäus was the first Bayern player to show some displeasure with the way things went when he started a dynamic solo from box to box in the tenth minute. Meanwhile Ruggiero Rizzitelli (the first Italian national team player to ply his trade in the Bundesliga) kicked Matthias Hamann (brother of Dietmar) in anger. Referee Weber, although being an eyewitness, mercifully overlooked the incident.

After 15 minutes 1860 finally exploited one of their many chances: After a half-hearted corner kick by Christian Ziege, Horst Heldt grabs the ball, starting a dynamic run towards the Bayern half, looking to the right and then to the left, nobody was attacking him also there was no one he could have passed to, so Heldt finally shot the ball into the Bayern goal, amidst the massive roar of the 1860 supporters (who were located behind Kahn’s goal that half): 1-0! This incident unleashed the last reserves of the 1860 players, manically supported by their manager Werner ‘Beinhart’ Lorant at the sidelines. Three minutes later the Bayern defense is incapable of taking the ball away from Olaf Bodden, who was actually stumbling with the ball for a while, but when Bodden entered the Bayern penalty box, Thomas Strunz placed a tackled which led Bodden to make a false step and the ref interpreted this as a penalty, Horst Heldt struck again: 2-0! Now even after this worrying setback, Bayern continued to play lacklustre. As if their only aim was to avoid further goals they passed the ball between them or hit it forward without taking aim. The "Löwen" however continued to attack, powered by the outstanding Horst Heldt and his teammates Peter Nowak, Miroslav Stevic and former Bayern player Manfred Bender. But eventually, 1860’s relentless attacking meant there’d be gaps in their defense and when nobody expected anything from Bayern anymore, Klinsmann headed in a corner by Ziege shortly before the break. So dominating was 1860 in the first half that Bayern managing director later expressed his gratitude to the city rivals for "not simply having butchered us when they could have." Bayern manager Giovanni Trapattoni made a crucial change to his squad for the second half when he brought Mehmet Scholl into the game instead of Dietmar Hamann. Somehow Scholl managed to reverse the fortunes of his teammates when he started a slow solo at the left wing which almost put his opponents to sleep, including 1860 goalie Rainer Berg who was wandering incautiously at the edge of the goalmouth when suddenly Scholl curved the ball above the defenders and Berg into the 1860 goal: 2-1! Out of nothing Bayern had managed to equalize and this finally marked the time of awakening for Bayern. Playing more aggressively now, Matthäus and Ziege got booked for foul play while Lorant brought Abedi Pele into the game instead of the exhausted Heldt. Trapattoni too saw that it was time for another change. Klinsmann was the player that had to make way for Carsten Jancker, a manoeuvre that Klinsmann greeted with a certain lack of understanding. Shaking his head in disbelief, a sour Klinsmann left the pitch. Almost Ziege would have caught up with him on his way to the dressing room, as the left wingback got sent off after an attack on Matthias Hamann shortly after Klinsmann’s subbing.

During the last 20 minutes, the derby reached its thrilling peak, an open battle without any tactical restrictions. Lorant subbed in a couple of fresh players, but most notably was the addition of the energetic left wingback Jörg Böhme. Like a humming top he circled through the Bayern defense and then chipped the ball with the outside of his foot into the Bayern goal. A fabulous, marvellous goal: 3-2! Was that the decision? It looked like it when Matthäus got sent off after a brutal foul on Matthias Hamann. Eleven versus nine. But 1860 was incapable of keeping Bayern’s last contingent away from their penalty box and thus it came that Carsten Jancker after a quick turn placed the ball inside the 1860 goal: 3-3! Only two minutes were left to play and 1860’s players and fans were distraught! And it still wasn’t over yet as 1860 almost amid the general chaos of the dying seconds had conceded a fourth goal, this time from a Scholl freekick!



--------------------------------------------TSV 1860 München

-----------------------------------------------------Berg

---------------------------------------------------Trares

--------------------------------------------Walker-------Greilich

-----------------------------------Stevic------M.Hamann------Bender

-------------------------------------------Heldt----------Nowak

-------------------------------------------Bodden-----Cerny

----------------------------------------Manager: Werner Lorant


--------------------------------------------Bayern München

------------------------------------------Klinsmann-----Rizzitelli

-------------------------------------Ziege--------Strunz-------Zickler

------------------------------------------Nerlinger-----D.Hamann

----------------------------------------Helmer----------------Babbel

---------------------------------------------------Matthäus

-----------------------------------------------------Kahn

---------------------------------------Manager: Giovanni Trapattoni

Subs:
46 Scholl in, D.Hamann out
64 Adebi Pele in, Heldt out
70 Jancker in, Klinsmann out
74 Münch in, Rizzitelli out
76 Borimirov in, Stevic out
81 Böhme in, Bender out

 

Rank #67

Eintracht Braunschweig 4
1. FC Köln 4



Place: Brunswick, Stadion an der Hamburger Straße
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 22 May 1982
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Niebergall (Rammersbach)

Goal Scorers:
1-0 Grobe 27
1-1 Bonhof 47
2-1 Worm 48
2-2 Woodcock 49
3-2 Pahl 56
4-2 Geyer 62
4-3 Littbarski 67
4-4 Woodcock 73




Commentary:
Before this game, Cologne was two points behind Hamburg with two games remaining. It was thus crucial for Rinus Michels and his team to take two points off Braunschweig in order to keep their chances of winning the Bundesliga for a third time alive. Since their glorious 4-3 win at Munich Hamburg had lost a bit of its good form, only having won one of their next three games, thus Cologne were hoping that Hamburg would continue to lose points in the last two games and indeed Hamburg only managed to draw the last two games (twice 3-3!). The supporters of both clubs were extraordinarily pleased by this game, which displayed 90 minutes of fast paced action football, a fight for every inch on the pitch, plenty of tumultuous scenes in the penalty boxes and eight goals. And despite the many goals, the two keepers Harald ‘Toni’ Schumacher and Bernd Franke (the #1 and #2 of the 1982 German World Cup squad!) belonged to the best players on the pitch, for without their first-class efforts, many more goals would have been scored. After Geyer had scored Braunschweig’s fourth goal with a directly converted corner kick Cologne already looked beaten, however the substitutions Holger Willmer and veteran Klaus Fischer (who hit the crossbar with a tremendous volley shortly before time) arranged for Cologne’s upwind in the last 25 minutes, them being joined by powerful sweeper Gerd Strack and Rainer Bonhof, who had played rather mediocre in the first half, but who got back on track in the second half. Braunschweig proved to be a tough team to play against, their small 19-year-old right back Peter Lux being the most striking player on the pitch, he played convincingly in defense and offense. Midfield workhorse Wolfgang Grobe crowned his last game in front of Braunschweig’s supporters with a massive grenade (1-0), he was to join Bayern Munich in the next season. Cologne had activated all it had left to keep the chance of winning the championship alive, proving with a battlesome attitude that they could have been a worthy champion after all.

Despite the not-so-bad finish, Cologne’s season had been one in which some question marks had been raised. It was a star-studded ensemble coached by a real star, famous Dutchman Rinus Michels, but in the first half of the season the team didn’t play as convincingly as one would have expected from such a combo. Cologne’s strength laid in the extraordinary firepower upfront, Tony Woodcock, Klaus Fischer, Pierre Littbarski, Klaus Allofs and Swiss star René Botteron all were formidable offensive players and Michels’ strategy during most of the first half of the season was to play with all five of them! The rest of the team was set to concentrate on defense. It wasn’t really a masterful plan but it is interesting to note that it did not lead straight into disaster like one might have expected. It did actually work quite well in home games but at away games this tactic backfired most of the time. By the end of the first half of the season, Klaus Allofs and Klaus Fischer exchanged places on the bench, while René Botteron found his permanent place on the bench. Although they ultimately failed to reach their aim, the Cologne players were quite pleased with their performances that season and in this game in particular – it was probably this attitude that kept them from achieving a higher aim, the gritty will to be the best was missing. Newcomers Braunschweig finished the season eleventh.


------------------------------------------------------------Eintracht Braunschweig

------------------------------------------------------------------------Franke

------------------------------------------------------Lux-----Hollmann-----Borg----Merkhoffer

------------------------------------------------------------Grobe-----------------Geiger

--------------------------------------------------------------Tripbacher-------Pahl

----------------------------------------------------------------Geyer----------Worm

-----------------------------------------------------------------Manager: Uli Maslo


----------------------------------------------------------------------1. FC Köln

----------------------------------------------------------------Woodcock------Littbarski

---------------------------------------------------------------K.Allofs--------------Engels

-------------------------------------------------------------Cullmann---------------Bonhof

---------------------------------------------------------Kroth------Steiner-----Strack---F.Hartmann

------------------------------------------------------------------------Schumacher

----------------------------------------------------------------Manager: Rinus Michels

Subs:
57 Willmer in, Kroth out
59 Fischer in, Allofs out
75 Keute in, Geiger out
82 Zavisic in, Grobe out

 

Rank #66

Bayern München 3
Fortuna Düsseldorf 2



Place: Munich, Olympiastadion
Time: Tuesday, 8 p.m.
Date: 21 November 1972
Attendance: 61,000
Referee: Horstmann (Groß Escherde)

Goal Scorers:
0-1 Biesenkamp 47
0-2 Geye 50
1-2 Hoeness 55
2-2 Hoeness 61
3-2 Beckenbauer 68


Commentary:
Just a couple of commentaries above I tackled the game that directly preceeded this game, the 1-3 defeat of Bayern at Ludwigshafen vs. Kaiserslautern. After that unexpected defeat, reigning champions Bayern found themselves only two points ahead of the unfancied Fortuna Düsseldorf side which had only been promoted the previous season. Four days later Bayern were to face these upstarts and they were highly motivated to dispose off them in style to silence those that criticized them harshly after the Kaiserslautern debacle. However it almost all went wrong again for Bayern if not for an amazing short burst of energy in the second half in which Bayern had to put out all the stops as Fortuna Düsseldorf was already 2-0 up in a nerve-wrecking game. Fortuna was very lucky during the first half, already after 120 seconds Bayern wasted their first sitter: Gerd Zewe lost the ball inside his own penalty box to Uli Hoeness who passed it to Gerd Müller whose shot slipped past Fortuna’s goalkeeper Wilfried Woyke but luckily for Düsseldorf the ball hit the post, then proceeded to roll along the goalline and then Woyke was back catching the ball with a mighty leap. It was a tremendous start to the game but was to be Bayern’s best opportunity by far in the first half, although they dictated play while the folks from the Rhine were confining their activities to casual counter attacks. Paul Breitner was Bayern’s most dangerous attacker, unsurprisingly since Breitner was the player most harshly criticized four days earlier and thus most motivated. He was occasionally joined by sweeper Franz Beckenbauer, thus Bayern’s offensive presence was at times back-breaking, but Fortuna’s defensive wall proved to be insurmountable like the iron curtain. Werner Kriegler and Werner Lungwitz marked the world’s greatest goalgetter Gerd Müller very tightly and Katsche Schwarzenbeck had to take care of Fortuna’s dangerman Rainer Geye at the right wing as Paul Breitner was committed to attacking most of the time. With time passing, the spectators impatiently waited for Bayern to score the lead but it just wouldn’t happen. In the 31st minute Gerd Müller played a perfect pass to Rainer Zobel who came storming from midfield, but the hard working midfielder only hit the outside of the net. Due to the good defending of Fortuna, Bayern had to try their luck with distant shots which often only closely missed the goal. Despite Bayern’s committed performance, there was a scent of disappointment in the air at half time.

The second half however was making more than up for the lack of events in the first. The spectators had waited for something to happen but what they got was not exactly what they were looking for: within five minutes of the second half, Düsseldorf was already up 2-0! Rainer Geye had absconded Schwarzenbeck and Breitner on the right wing, got in a hard-hit cross to the goalmouth where nominal center forward Peter Biesenkamp waited unmarked and hence had no problems shooting the ball past Sepp Maier from a distance of 5 meters. Maier didn’t even react. Three minutes later, horrified faces on the Bayern bench and in the stadium. This dismay and panic was caused by Fortuna’s shock second strike, again it was the dangerous Rainer Geye that had started a solo on the right wing, leaving Schwarzenbeck behind him finishing with a well-timed low shot into the left corner of the goal. A mentally weak team would probably have fell apart upon such a catastrophic development but Bayern proved that they were one of the mentally toughest teams around. Youngster Bernd Dürnberger was subbed in for the hesitant left wing Willi Hoffmann and Bayern picked up courage again surprisingly soon after the 0-2. What now followed was an amazing burst of energy which sent the Bayern crowd into a frenzy. In the 55th minute Uli Hoeness scored a fine goal with a left-footed shot after a pass by Müller and six minutes later Uli Hoeness struck once more, again after a superb assist by Gerd Müller. Hoeness fired a real bullet of a shot into the right corner of the goal: 2-2! Hoeness and Müller had turnt the tide in awesome fashion and now the team had licked blood and clearly wanted more. Skipper Franz Beckenbauer himself stormed forward, 30 yards and more, then played a typical 1-2 with Gerd Müller, broke into the Fortuna box and then scored from a difficult angle: 3-2!

Beckenbauer had crowned his first class performance with a first class goal. Standing ovations from the crowd for Kaiser Beckenbauer and his partner Bomber Müller! It was a dream come true for Bayern fans and nightmare for Fortuna. Bayern continued to attack with unabated verve and it wasn’t before the 80th minute that Fortuna’s forwards were again able to disburden their defense with casual counter attacks. But they weren’t able to hit back like they did early in the second half thus Bayern remained unbeaten in the Olympicstadion and their lead over Fortuna had increased to four points. But Fortuna proved to be a resilient pursuer of Bayern during the next couple of months. During the next seven games Fortuna managed to close the gap to Bayern by two points and at times even only one point stood between the two sides. However came February Düsseldorf began to lose a couple of games while the Bayern machine continued to stride from victory to victory. At the end of the season, Bayern had set a new record by winning the Bundesliga with an eleven points lead over second placed Cologne. For Düsseldorf the season still was a highly successful one, as they came in third, 12 points behind the old and new champions.


----------------------------------------------------------Bayern München

-------------------------------------------------------------------Maier

--------------------------------------Hansen---Schwarzenbeck---Beckenbauer---Breitner

-----------------------------------------------Roth---------------Zobel--------------U.Hoeness

----------------------------------------Krauthausen-----------G.Müller------------W.Hoffmann

----------------------------------------------------------Manager: Udo Lattek


---------------------------------------------------------Fortuna Düsseldorf

-------------------------------------------------Herzog------Biesenkamp--------Geye

-----------------------------------------------K.Budde---------H.Schulz--------Zewe

----------------------------------------------Senger-----Lungwitz------Kriegler------Hesse

---------------------------------------------------------------------Woyke

------------------------------------------------------------Manager: Heinz Lucas

Subs:
59 Dürnberger in, Hoffmann out
78 Helmreich in, Schulz out

 

Yes Juve featured relatively unknown players that era, but still won the scudetto. Some of the players plying their trade for Juve were Gori, Leoncini, Coramini, Castano, Favelli, del Sol, Cunha, Zigoni, Sacco, Salvadore, Bercellino, Magnusson, de Paoli and Menichelli. Clearly overshadowed by the Juve teams of the 1970s and 1980s.

 

Rank #65

Hertha BSC Berlin 4
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2



Place: Berlin, Olympiastadion
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 7 November 1970
Attendance: 80,000
Referee: Heckeroth (Frankfurt A.M.)

Goal Scorers:
1-0 Weber 28
2-0 Steffenhagen 38
3-0 Horr 47
3-1 Laumen 66
3-2 Heynckes 67
4-2 Varga 88 pen


Commentary:
In the first 60 minutes, Hertha BSC played football on a level that had not been witnessed in Berlin since the end of World War II. Everything fit like a glove, no idling or holdup, constant movement among the players, football that was played according to the rules of ‘modern’ football, without schematic restrictions. Needless to say, Hertha’s victory against the reigning champions Borussia Mönchengladbach was well deserved. But just when it looked as if this game was to become a waterloo-like debacle for Mönchengladbach, the champions struck back within 120 seconds. Instead of 0-3 the score suddenly was 2-3! Hertha had played too easy-going after they had been up 3-0, Gladbach’s two goals brought real confusion to the Hertha efense, however it must be noted that Jupp Heynckes’ first goal was irregular as he had pushed his marker Tasso Wild with his back in order to make room for his spectacular bicycle kick, but the referee did not act on it. The ball dropped down under the crossbar, a tremendous effort by Heynckes but as stated it should have been disallowed. While Gladbach had not played badly at Berlin, they found their master in Hertha that day, who arguably played the best piece of football they ever were to play in their Bundesliga history. Their best player was the Hungarian ‘rastelli’ Zoltan Varga. West Germany manager Helmut Schön after the game glowingly commented on Varga: "One of the most moulded football artists of our time, it’s a feast for the eyes watching him play, lanky but determined." Other well-playing Hertha players were Wolfgang Gayer and Arno Steffenhagen. Gladbach’s superstar Günter Netzer was completely marked out of the game by Gayer. Hertha coach Helmut Kronsbein commented: "our high-paced game wore Borussia down. It was about time that the champions got a bonk on the nose!", pointing out that this was Gladbach’s first defeat in 15 straight league games.


--------------------------------------------Hertha BSC

------------------------------------------------Gross

-------------------------------Patzke------Witt------Wild-----Ferschl

--------------------------------------Rumor------------Gayer

-------------------------------------------------Horr

------------------------------Steffenhagen---Varga---J.Weber

---------------------------------Manager: Helmut Kronsbein


---------------------------------Borussia Mönchengladbach


-------------------------------Le Fevre----Heynckes----Laumen

------------------------------------Köppel-------------Netzer

-----------------------------------------------Dietrich

----------------------------Wittmann---L.Müller---Sieloff----Vogts

--------------------------------------------------Kleff

------------------------------------Manager: Hennes Weisweiler

---------------------------------------------Subs: none

 

Rank #64

Borussia Dortmund 0
Borussia Mönchengladbach 3



Place: Dortmund, Westfalenstadion
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 13 June 1981
Attendance: 54,000
Referee: Aldinger (Waiblinger)

Goal Scorers:
0-1 Bruns 15
0-2 Matthäus 76
0-3 Schäfer 88



Commentary :
Showdown at the Westfalenstadion! Back in the days when the UEFA-Cup was still a very desirable competition, the two Borussias met on the last day of the season and guess what, both teams happened to be fighting for a place in the UEFA Cup. The previous Saturday, Gladbach and BVB had exchanged positions after Gladbach had lost 1-4 at home vs. new and old champs Bayern while Dortmund had won 4-0 away at Cup Winners Frankfurt in striking fashion. Both clubs were now level on points but BVB had the far better goals differential (+13 vs. +1) thus all they needed was a draw to assure a place in international competition. All of Dortmund was yearning for that to happen, as the club had not managed this since the 1960s! After the great display at Frankfurt, Dortmund were already rejoicing to finish off Gladbach at the Westfalenstadion, nobody was expecting a draw or a defeat, all controls were set for a glorious victory especially since Gladbach had been outclassed by Bayern the previous week. But what the Dortmund crowd did not realize was that Gladbach did not lose to Bayern because of own faults, they lost because Bayern were in brilliant shape and the new champs would probably have taken the Westfalenstadion by storm just like they took the Bökelberg. Naysayers were predicting the final end of the great Borussia era, but the club arose like phoenix from the ashes defying the odds in an away performance that would have made the victorious Gladbach side of the 1970s proud. Coach Jupp Heynckes even drew parallels with the 1975 UEFA-Cup winning Gladbach team.

All-out attacking from minute one, Dortmund were blindly storming the road to ruin. After a through ball by young Lothar Matthäus, Hans-Günther Bruns was heading towards the Dortmund penalty box, 20 yards in front of the goal he outsmarted Dortmund’s sweeper Meinolf Koch and then overcame keeper Eike Immel with a shot into the left corner: 0-1! This had happened in the 13th minute and it had been Mönchengladbach’s first shot on goal. But the Dortmund players were not about to give up that soon, driven forward by their fanatic fans, they continued to send wave after wave of attack towards the Gladbach goal, but the keeper they had to face that Saturday arguably played the game of his life, it was Wolfgang ‘Otto’ Kleff’s finest day in between the posts of the Gladbach goal, no small feat considering that he had guarded that place since 1968! Be it Peter Geyer, Manfred Burgsmüller or Rüdiger Abramczik, they all failed to overcome the ‘magician’ in the Gladbach goal. With each passing minute, Dortmund got more nervous and Gladbach more composed. Tactically astute, the Gladbach side also possessed the better footballers. It was a nerve-wrecking affair for both sides. After the 60th minute, led by veteran sweeper Winfried Schäfer, Gladbach slowly but surely got a firm grip on the game. In the 77th minute Gladbach fans were delivered as their club managed to score the crucial second goal: first left wing Ewald Lienen failed to score despite being unmarked as Eike Immel parried his shot, but Harald Nickel eked out the ball, passed it along to Lothar Matthäus – who scored: 0-2! From then on Gladbach controlled the game as Dortmund and their fans were silenced in shock. Two minutes before time Winfried Schäfer crowned his superb performance by scoring the third Gladbach goal after having played a 1-2 with Harald Nickel: 0-3! After this hammering, the Dortmund players and fans were a sorry sight to watch. They only had themselves and Wolfgang Kleff to blame, since a draw would have been sufficient for reaching their aim, they should have played more calmly and composed. Gladbach fully deserved their victory as they had been the smarter side by far and during the last 30 minutes they performed with great vision and verve, twinkle-toed and elegant. Gladbach’s players were celebrating as if they had just won the championship or a European trophy, so relieved were they to have passed this nerve-wrecking test with distinction.


----------------------------------Borussia Dortmund

--------------------------------------------Immel

-------------------------Huber----M.Koch---Rüssmann--W.Schneider

-------------------------------H.J.Wagner-----Votava

----------------------------------------Burgsmüller

-----------------------Abramczik-----Edvaldsson-----Geyer

----------------------------------Manager: Rolf Bock


----------------------------Borussia Mönchengladbach

-----------------------------------Lienen------H.Nickel

--------------------------------Wuttke---------------Bödeker

-------------------------------------Bruns------Matthäus

---------------M.Schumacher-W.Schäfer---Hannes----Ringels

---------------------------------------------Kleff

---------------------------------Manager: Jupp Heynckes

---------------------------------Subs:
---------------------------------55 Loontiens in, Wuttke out
---------------------------------60 T.Schneider in, Evaldsson out
---------------------------------79 Schmider in, Bruns out

 

Rank #63

Arminia Bielefeld 4
Bayern München 4



Place: Bielefeld, Alm-Stadion
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 18 April 1998
Attendance: 22,512
Referee: Zerr (Ottersweier)

Goal Scorers:
1-0 Maass 3
1-1 Tarnat 28
1-2 Babbel 35
2-2 Sternkopf 40
2-3 Nerlinger 45
3-3 Scholl 74 own goal
4-3 Kuffour 82 own goal
4-4 Matthäus 89



Commentary:
A tumultuous match in Bielefeld’s sold-out Alm that left nothing to be desired for the fans but that troubled the safety-first fanatic Giovanni Trapattoni on the Bayern bench. Bayern had planned to take three points off Bielefeld, who were last in the league table trailing the next team by four points and thus almost certainly a relegated team at the end of the season. Bayern as usual were fighting for the championship, this time newly promoted Kaiserslautern was ahead of them by just one point. But of the three points Bayern only got one as Bielefeld inside its packed and infamously intimidating ‘Alm-Stadion’ gained a momentum that made them outgrow their own stature. Unquestionably Arminia was helped by having scored their first goal after only three minutes. Oliver Kahn – who was in superb form in the previous months – had a pretty bad day, after 2:07 minutes to be exact, he missed a curved cross by Rob Maass: 1-0! After 27 minutes, Kahn’s colleague at the other side of the pitch, Arminia goalie Georg Koch drew level with Kahn after he let Michael Tarnat’s freekick slip through: 1-1! Only eight minutes later Koch made another mistake, when he missed a header by Markus Babbel. A quaint goal, as Babbel had first hit the cross, then got to head again and this time Koch failed to stop the ball: 1-2! When Koch landed on the ground, he broke two rips of center back Günter Schäfer who had to be subbed. Now it was Kahn’s turn to look suspect: former Bayern teammate Michael Sternkopf surprised Kahn by scoring from the most difficult of angles: 2-2! The player that came in for the injured Schäfer was Jörg Reeb and it was him who – seconds before the half-time whistle – tried an overbold solo parallel to his own penalty box, Michael Tarnat tackled the ball off him and hit a cross towards the goalmouth where Christian Nerlinger headed the ball into the goal: 2-3! During the first 30 minutes of the second half, Bayern seemed to control the game and when Bixente Lizarazu scored in the 68th minute, it all seemed to go the right way for the reigning champions but the referee disallowed the goal due to passive off-side by Alexander Zickler. All protesting by the Bayern players only brought confusion into the team and six minutes later, instead of leading 4-2, Arminia managed the equalizer: a freekick by Thomas Stratos was deflected by Mehmet Scholl’s shoulder and found its way into the goal: 3-3!

Eight minutes later the world seemed to fall apart for Osei ‘Sammy’ Kuffour when he accidentally kicked the ball over the line of the Oliver-Kahn-guarded Bayern goal ... with his behind! A comical oddity of a goal, I wish I could upload the picture taken in the second after the goal, Oliver Kahn’s gesture of desperation is simply priceless. To Bayern it was an annoying turn of events as Kaiserslautern struggled in Frankfurt at the same time and for long parts of the second half was down 1-2 which would have meant that Bayern would have – for the first time in the whole season – occupied the coveted number position in the league table! In the meantime Kaiserslautern had equalized Frankfurt’s 2-1 lead and suddenly Bayern found themselves trailing the Palatinates by three points! That all this came after a disallowed goal and two own goals brought extra agony to the Bayern officials and players. But all was not lost yet. There was a player in the Bayern side that had played an excellent second half of the season, the veteran sweeper Lothar Matthäus was also one of the best players in this game and one minute before the ref blew the final whistle, Matthäus managed to equalize with an unlikely scissors kick after Nerlinger had chipped the ball from the edge of the box: 4-4! Thus a dramatic game that at times had real comedy quality had ended on a memorable note.


--------------------------------------------Arminia Bielefeld

--------------------------------------------------G.Koch

-----------------------------------Stratos------G.Schäfer------Zafirov

----------------------------------J.Bode--------Maass---------Maul

-------------------------------------------------Sternkopf

-------------------------------------Kuntz--------Daei--------Reina

---------------------------------------Manager: Ernst Middendorp


------------------------------------------Bayern München

------------------------------------------Scholl--------Jancker

--------------------------------------Tarnat---------------Fink

--------------------------------Lizarazu------Nerlinger-------D.Hamann

--------------------------------------Kuffour--------------Babbel

-------------------------------------------------Matthäus

---------------------------------------------------Kahn

------------------------------------Manager: Giovanni Trapattoni

----------------------------------------Subs:
----------------------------------------38 Reeb in, Schäfer out
----------------------------------------64 Zickler in, Jancker out
----------------------------------------73 H.Gerber in, Bode out
----------------------------------------78 Rizzitelli in, Scholl out

 

Rank #62

Bayern München 2
Borussia Mönchengladbach 2



Place: Munich, Olympiastadion
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 21 May 1977
Attendance: 77,500
Referee: Biwersi (Bliesransbach)

Goal Scorers:
0-1 Heynckes 20
0-2 Stielike 22
1-2 Müller 36
2-2 Wittkamp 90 own goal



Commentary:
Before this last game of the season, Borussia Mönchengladbach were heading the Bundesliga table with a two points lead over FC Schalke 04 and Eintracht Braunschweig. The goal differential of Gladbach and Schalke was very close (+24 vs. +23, Braunschweig only had theoretic chances with a +12 goal differential) meaning that a defeat of Gladbach at Bayern and a victory of Schalke at home vs. Ruhrpott arch rivals Borussia Dortmund would have secured them their first German championship since 1958. However this game was also notable for having been the last game that featured Franz Beckenbauer in the Bayern line-up, for he had signed a contract with New York Cosmos and was about to start playing in the NASL only a couple of days after the Bundesliga’s season finale. It was quite fitting that his last game would be against the old rivals Borussia. The Kaiser’s departure also signalled the end of an era, as at the same time Wolfgang Overath and Günter Netzer had retired from professional football, thus German football at once lost three of their most dominating and celebrated characters of the past 15 years.

In the previous week, Schalke’s reserve player Thomas Lander had scored his club’s winning goal in the 89th minute in the game at Ruhrpott rivals Bochum. Had he not scored, Borussia Mönchengladbach would already have sealed the championship at that weekend. Gladbach had never won at Bayern, but winning they didn’t need to as a draw was sufficient, but there were some questions regarding Gladbach’s ability to seal the championship at Bayern, as the team had only won five games since the winter break and only gained 16 points from 16 games. Gladbach weren’t their old brilliant self anymore in 1977, nobody could deny that. But luckily for Gladbach, Bayern weren’t the same old brilliant Bayern of past years, too, despite featuring players like Beckenbauer, Rummenigge, Maier and Müller. However what spoke for a Bayern victory was the tradition that even an out-of-form Bayern side always got back to topform versus the old rival from the Rhineland. Thus not few expected Schalke to sensationally win the Bundesliga title that Saturday. For Bayern too there was something at stake, namely a place in the UEFA-Cup. Bayern had been sixth in the league, with the same points total as Hamburg but a slightly better goals differential. Only a win against reigning champs Borussia Mönchengladbach could secure Bayern a place in international competition the following season.

Bayern had to do with new blood players like Peter Gruber, Vesely Schenk and Kjell Seneca for most of the recent months and there could be no doubt that Gladbach was definitely the more talented side. Bayern slept away the first 30 minutes and only really revved up their game in the second half. While Bayern manager Dettmar Cramer had expected Gladbach to start with an expectant attitude in this game, Udo Lattek on the other bench had ordered his team to attack with verve right from the start, which took Bayern by surprise as usually no team was all-out attacking when they played at Bayern’s Olympiastadion. Gladbach had added long injured Jupp Heynckes and Uli Stielike to their side and within two minutes they were up 2-0 after goal by these two players! In the 20th minute center back Frank Schäffer had passed a long ball to Heynckes who espied a gap between his marker Vesely Schenk and Bayern goalie Sepp Maier: 1-0! This was Heynckes’ first goal since his meniscus operation and his 15th league in total that season. 120 seconds after the first goal, Herbert ‘Hacki’ Wimmer won a duel in the Bayern box vs. Swede Björn Andersson, his cross bounced off Bayern center back Katsche Schwarzenbeck straight to Uli Stielike, who scored with a mighy great distant shot from 33 yards: 2-0! The game already looked decided and Schalke’s efforts vs. Dortmund (they were up 2-0 around the same time) had become pointless. But despite Bayern’s poor efforts, there was still one Gerd Müller who always could score a goal regardless of how bad his team was playing.

In the 36th minute, Schenk had crossed from the right wing to Müller lurking at the penalty spot, Müller had problems controlling the ball at first, but while the ball was not in ideal position to shoot, Müller somehow still managed to get his foot on the ball and pushed it under Gladbach goalie Wolfgang Kneib into the goal: 1-2! A typical Müller goal. Four minutes earlier Rummenigge already had a fine opportunity with a header but Kneib saved. Shortly after that, Wimmer could have scored the third Borussia goal, but his shot Sepp Maier parried with his foot. But after the break Gladbach began to slow down their efforts in order to conserve some energy for the European Cup final vs. Liverpool four days later in Rome, allowing the previously unsettled home side found a way back into the game. Especially Franz Beckenbauer was unwilling to leave the Bundesliga stage with a rare home defeat and thus he relentlessly pushed his teammates forward. Two minutes into the second half, Müller had the opportunity to equalize but his header went just over the top. Jupp Kapellmann and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge had found their rhythm and got along much better on the right side now so that Heynckes and Herbert ‘Hacki’ Wimmer were drawn deep into their own half instead of attacking from Gladbach’s left side like they did so well in the first half. Ten minutes into the second half, Rainer Bonhof almost scored a goal but his vehemently fired grenade just went over the crossbar.

In the 62nd minute, Gerd Müller wasted a sitter that he normally would have converted in his sleep when he found himself totally unmarked in short distance in front of the Gladbach goal but somehow managed to shovel the ball wide next the left goal post. Despite some good opportunities, the game somewhat lacked the quality of the first half as Bayern were too unimaginative to really scare Borussia while Gladbach were generally smarter and more shrewd. In the 78th minute, Wimmer overdid a solo and a minute later Bonhof hit the post with one of his powerful trademark distant shots after he had off-set Swede Conny Torstensson. Beckenbauer was now constantly in attack and one minute before the final whistle his efforts finally paid off: the Kaiser had chipped a ball in his unique style into the Gladbach box where sweeper Hans-Jürgen Wittkamp jumped higher than Müller, but in doing that he deflected the ball over the outstorming keeper Kneib and the ball truddled into the empty Gladbach goal: 2-2! But Gladbach didn’t mind this last-minute equalizer, as they had won the championship for a third time in a row, equalizing Bayern’s record from the years 1972-1974. For Bayern, this result was irksome as Hamburg had won their last game 5-1 at home vs. Bochum and thus moved up one place to sixth while Bayern fell down to seventh. But Bayern had still hopes of making it into the UEFA-Cup, as fifth-placed Cologne had reached the German Cup final which was staged a week after the last Bundesliga game. It became extra gruelling for Bayern fans, players and officials as the Cup final ended 1-1 and there was no penalty shoot-out scheduled thus the final had to be repeated two days later and this time Cologne relieved Bayern with a 1-0 Cup win – thus Cologne were heading for the Cup Winners’ Cup and Bayern were allowed to enter the UEFA-Cup despite finishing too low in the league.


-----------------------------------------------Bayern Munich

------------------------------------------------------Maier

---------------------------Schenk----Beckenbauer---Schwarzenbeck---P.Gruber

--------------------------------Kapellmann---Torstensson---Andersson

---------------------------K.H.Rummenigge---G.Müller----U.Hoeness

-----------------------------------------Manager: Dettmar Cramer


---------------------------------------Borussia Mönchengladbach

----------------------------------------Heynckes----------Simonsen

------------------------------------Wimmer-------Stielike------Bonhof

---------------------------------------------------Wohlers

------------------------------Klinkhammer-Schäffer--Wittkamp---Vogts

----------------------------------------------------Kneib

----------------------------------------------Manager: Udo Lattek

------------------------------------------Subs:
------------------------------------------74 Kulik in, Heynckes out
------------------------------------------74 Künkel in, Hoeness out
------------------------------------------81 Seneca in, Torstensson out

 

Rank #61

1. FC Köln 4
Bayern München 0



Place: Cologne, Müngersdorfer Stadion
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 17 October 1981
Attendance: 60,000
Referee: Föckler (Weisenheim)

Goal Scorers:
1-0 Steiner 20
2-0 Woodcock 57
3-0 Kroth 83
4-0 Strack 86


Commentary:
Before the start of the 1981-82 Bundesliga season, reigning champs Bayern were the team to beat. They had won the previous two Bundesliga campaigns in impressive style and the lethal tandem of Paul Breitner and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was one of the most feared in European football. Paul Breitner had started out as a full back ten years earlier and had now developed into one of the bossiest midfield players in Europe while Karl-Heinz Rummenigge was considered by many as Europe’s finest player. Bayern had started the 1981-82 campaign in style, having won the first five games. Their opponents in this game were Cologne, a team that was always among the favorites to win the title but that almost never fulfilled that promise. Cologne had acted as big spender before the season, having acquired Klaus Allofs from arch rivals Fortuna Düsseldorf for the then record sum of over 2 million D-Marks and from Schalke veteran center forward Klaus Schalke joined them.

With these new stars on board, Cologne boasted a squad that included such high profile players as Rainer Bonhof, Tony Woodcock, Bernd Cullmann, Tony Schumacher, Pierre Littbarski and René Botteron. From a sheer quality point of view, Cologne arguably had the most talented side in the Bundesliga that season and all this was rounded off by things being overseen by Rinus Michels, himself a star among managers. Michels, being a friend of attacking football, intended to play with four strikers (Fischer, Allofs, Littbarski, Woodcock) that were all dedicating themselves to the attack which meant hard extra-work for the two defensive midfield players Rainer Bonhof and Bernd Cullmann. And if this wasn’t enough, at times René Botteron was added as a fifth offensive player! While this super-offensive tactic could work in games at home, Michels made the mistake to also apply it in away games, for example Cologne started with four strikers in the crunch away game at Hamburg which they duly lost 1-3. But to Michels’ credit, this strategy did not backfire as much as one might have expected, Cologne routinely took off the points from lesser teams and thus it came before this game that Cologne found themselves second-placed directly behind reigning champs Bayern. Both teams stood at 13-5 points, both had a goals differential of +9, the only thing separating the two was the number of goals scored (Bayern 24, Cologne 17).

Since their impressive start to the season, Bayern had slowly but surely lost their form, as evidenced by recent results (1-3 at newcomers Braunschweig, 0-2 at Dortmund, 1-1 at home against Nürnberg). Obviously Bayern wanted to turn around this negative trend with a win at pursuers Cologne but in fact they only drowned deeper into crisis. After the game, Bayern manager Pal Csernai complained about his central defense which he claimed was a constant cause for trepidation at the back. With a highly suspect defense, Bayern became welcome victims of Cologne’s forwards. For Bayern things really looked bad, as their strengths during the two previous years were the defensive midfield and the defense, without these working properly, the champs were really in trouble, especially since Breitner (who was plagued by minor injuries) and Rummenigge who usually carried the offensive part, were slightly out of shape themselves. Despite a bad performance, Bayern still had a couple of fine opportunities between the 30th and 60th minute, but couldn’t convert any of them, which in large parts had to be credited to Harald ‘Toni’ Schumacher who was again in excellent shape. Bayern gave the game up after Tony Woodcock had scored Cologne’s second goal and were in for a rare treat during the last half hour of the match.

After the game Cologne president Peter Weiand stated: "I had firmly expected a win, but after this result I feel like in a dream". Cologne had shown that Rinus Michels' adventurous strategy could work wonders when the players fully concentrated on their qualities: enormous strength in direct duels, almost perfect team discipline with even the individualists in the team subordinating themselves yet without abandoning their individual qualities, stone-cold composure even in the most precarious situations. (These qualities happened to be the same that characterized the Bayern side of the previous two seasons, but unlike Bayern, Cologne could not conserve this form in the long run). Rainer Bonhof was Cologne’s best player, having beat off the pants of Paul Breitner in the direct duel with Bayern’s midfield general. With his great performance against Breitner, Bonhof also indirectly isolated Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, who was ever so dependant on Breitner’s ideas and passes. After the game Rummenigge complained that Bayern’s midfield had let him down.

That Rummenigge could only shine sporadically in this game was also due to Holger Willmer, who got along better and better with Bayern’s superstar the longer the game went on while Cologne’s center back Paul Steiner fully controlled Bayern’s bulky center forward Dieter Hoeness, who at that time was atop the goal scorers table with eight goals in ten games. Steiner scored the crucial first goal with a header from 8 yards after a corner by Klaus Allofs, 20 minutes had passed.

Unfortunately Bayern’s goalkeeper Manfred Müller suffered a concussion in that event and had to be replaced by Walter Junghans in goal. Shortly before and after the break, Bayern put all its eggs in one basket, but to no avail as Harald Schumacher was in splendid shape, after a header by Hoeness from short distant Schumacher pulled off a masterful save, his finest effort on that day. Rummenigge wasted the greatest opportunity for Bayern to equalize but he only hit the outside of the net after having found himself unmarked. After 57 minutes Englishman Tony Woodcock reached a cross by Klaus Allofs from the left wing, heading the ball into the Bayern goal. A goal that was facilitated by Bayern’s bad marking. A blatant mistake by Bayern’s central defense who let Woodcock head totally unmarked. After this goal, Bayern somewhat lost all hope and let Cologne run rampant. During the last two minutes Cologne scored two additional goals: full back Thomas Kroth scored with a cracking volley after a cross by sweeper Gerd Strack and then Strack himself scored from five yards after a subtle diagonal pass by Pierre Littbarski from inside right. The rout was completed and Cologne was celebrating most merrily.


-----------------------------------------------------1. FC Köln

-----------------------------------------------------Schumacher

-----------------------------------Konopka-----Strack-----Steiner----Willmer

-------------------------------------------------------Cullmann

--------------------------------------------Bonhof---------------K.Allofs

---------------------------------------Littbarski-------Fischer------Woodcock

-----------------------------------------------Manager: Rinus Michels


--------------------------------------------------Bayern München

---------------------------------------------D.Hoeness-----K.H.Rummenigge

-----------------------------------------------Breitner-----------Kraus

----------------------------------------Dürnberger---------------Niedermayer

---------------------------------Horsmann---Augenthaler---Weiner----Dremmler

----------------------------------------------------------M.Müller

---------------------------------------------------Manager: Pal Csernai

---------------------------------------------------Subs:
---------------------------------------------------20 Junghans in, Müller out
---------------------------------------------------65 Del’Haye in, Kraus out
---------------------------------------------------73 Kroth in, Woodcock out
---------------------------------------------------84 Engels in, Fischer out

 

Sammy Kuffour used to specialize in things like that.

 

Rank #60

1. FC Köln 1
Hamburg SV 3



Place: Cologne, Müngersdorfer Stadion
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 16 September 1978
Attendance: 44,000
Referee: Frickel (Munich)

Goal Scorers:
0-1 Hartwig 9
1-1 Müller 65
1-2 Hidien 71
1-3 Hrubesch 89



Commentary:
Cologne had won the German championship in 1978 and had remained unbeaten at home for over one year (Schalke were the last team to beat them at home back in September 1977, a game that is also featured in this countdown). For the new season, the squad had by and large remained intact, only veterans Karl-Heinz Simmet and Hannes Löhr had called it a day and two 18-year-olds were added to the team, Pierre Littbarski and Bernd Schuster. But the major players of the championship winning side were still there: Harald Schumacher in goal, Herbert Neumann and Heinz Flohe in midfield and Dieter Müller in attack. Cologne’s coach Hennes Weisweiler’s concept was very dependant on all of these four players being present, thus he was very worried when playmaker Heinz Flohe, arguably the most important of all players, was injured at the 1978 World Cup. Flohe was out of action until late-November 1978 and when he came back, his club was struggling against relegation, having completely lost the form of the previous season. This sensitive was Weisweiler’s system to the loss of an important player. Coupled with Flohe’s absence was center forward Dieter Müller’s heavy goal scoring crisis, who only managed to score two meagre goals in the first 14 games of the new season after having topped the goal scorers’ chart in the previous two seasons with 34 and 24 goals.

Almost the exact opposite to Cologne was Hamburg. Past them was a miserable year, they had originally been tipped by many as favorites but had then only managed tenth position in the final league table, a very big disappointment for the club that had won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1977 and who had signed one of Europe’s most famous forwards, Liverpool icon Kevin Keegan the same year. But for the coming season, new managing director Günter Netzer had signed one of the most competent coaches in club football of the 1960s and 1970s, Yugoslav Branko Zebec. Zebec was the man who had turnt the young Bayern Munich side of the 1960s into a German champion in 1969. When he took over command at Hamburg in the summer of 1978, he made his new team adopt the same style he already had used effectful at Bayern, the so-called "pitch chess" philosophy. A tactically sophisticated approach that did not always thrill the fans but that had proved to be highly successful. Zebec also understood how important fitness and stamina were in modern football and thus had developed a ruthless, ultra-tough training schedule for his players that was second to none in European club football. As a result, Hamburg’s players were indued with a supreme fitness and a very sophisticated tactic but as important as that was that the unrivalled superstar of the team, Englishman Kevin Keegan, after having struggled in his first year in the Bundesliga, had finally come to terms with the unfamiliar surroundings and was on course to playing the best football of his career. Unsurprisingly, reigning champs Cologne proved to be no match for this resurrected and super-strong Hamburg side.

After the game, Hamburg’s former center back and 1966 World Cup hero Willi Schulz commented on Kevin Keegan: "this guy should be worth 10 million D-Marks in comparison to the ten other players." This evaluation coming from Willi Schulz was quite remarkable, knowing that he was always one of the staunchest critics of the Hamburg team since he had retired in 1973, always having been more prone to criticising than to praising. Keegan's opponents Herbert Hein and Herbert Zimmermann were left dizzy after Keegan’s display at the right wing. Günter Netzer remarked: "Keegan is unbelievable. And the best is, he can even play better. A player like him is simply invaluable." After Cologne had equalized in the 65th minute, it looked as if the champions might be able turn the game around but Hamburg had other things on their minds. Six minutes after Cologne’s goal, full back Peter Hidien appeared unmarked at the left wing, everyone including goalkeeper Toni Schumacher expected a cross but Hidien hit a curve ball straight behind Schumacher under the crossbar: 1-2! One minute before time Horst Hrubesch scored with a low diagonal shot: 1-3! This was Hrubesch’s first Bundesliga goal for Hamburg, until he left the club in 1983, a further 95 league goals would follow. After a wait of 19 years, Hamburg finally won the German championship in 1979. It was the first peak of a very successful period for the club in domestic and international football.


------------------------------------------------1. FC Köln

------------------------------------------------Schumacher

-----------------------------Konopka---R.Gerber---Strack----Hein

-------------------------------------------------Cullmann

-----------------------------------H.Neumann------------H.Zimmermann

-----------------------------------Van Gool----D.Müller----Littbarski

-------------------------------------Manager: Hennes Weisweiler


-----------------------------------------------Hamburg SV

------------------------------------------Hrubesch------Reimann

------------------------------------Memering----Hartwig-----Keegan

-----------------------------------------------------Ripp

---------------------------------Hidien-----Buljan-------Nogly-----Kaltz

----------------------------------------------------Kargus

----------------------------------------Manager: Branko Zebec

----------------------------------------Subs:
----------------------------------------37 Wehmeyer in, Hartwig out
----------------------------------------65 Bertl in, Reimann out
----------------------------------------80 Engels in, van Gool out
----------------------------------------80 Prestin in, Konopka out

 

Rank #59

VfB Stuttgart 1
Bayern München 4



Place: Stuttgart, Neckarstadion
Time: Saturday, 3:30 p.m.
Date: 25 March 1972
Attendance: 50,000
Referee: Schröck (Riegelsberg)

Goal Scorers:
0-1 Müller 18
1-1 Frank 40
1-2 Sühnholz 52
1-3 Müller 59
1-4 Hoeness 88


Commentary:
It was after this game that Bayern had reconquered the peak position in the Bundesliga from FC Schalke 04. Schalke had sat comfortable at the top of the table for most of the season, apart from three weeks in October/November, when Bayern was at the top. Bayern would not only remain at the top for the rest of the season, but also for the entire next season. They weren't toppled before August 1973, at the first day of the 1973-74 season. 42 straight matchdays at the top was a new Bundesliga record and this record has not been broken since. Bayern’s win at Stuttgart was a pretty convincing affair. Bayern generally did not play with as much verve, playfulness and passion as Borussia Mönchengladbach, their style being more characterized by chess-like reasoning and coldbloodedly looking for ways to beat the opponent, but Bayern were still capable of playing a highly sophisticated football, with picture-book like combinations, fast movements, pacy dribblings and of course the ever-present 1-2s that Franz Beckenbauer, Uli Hoeness and Paul Breitner used to play with Gerd Müller who usually flipped the ball back perfectly timed. The first half in this game was characterized by the 'unpopular' Bayern style, the 'football chess'. Their opponents Stuttgart did not appear to be a real threat thus Bayern thought they could lay back a bit after their first goal, taking the two points off the home side in a casual way. Thankfully Stuttgart managed to score the equalizer five minutes before the break, which must have somehow provoked Bayern and they duly showed all their class in the second half until the home side had paid deference to their supreme guests. But no hard feelings from the home side, they knew they were beaten by a team that possessed the strongest axis in European and arguably also World football, the unrivalled Maier-Beckenbauer-Müller threesome that instilled fear in their opponents.

Former Bayern coach Branko Zebec, at the time of this game responsible for Stuttgart, after the game commented: "Beckenbauer is an artist, we already knew that, but today Müller and Hoeness played like artists, too. The rest of the team is made of tireless workers. Bayern play more intelligent, with more pace, they are superior to us in every way. We’ve seen the new German champion today." And Bayern’s coach Udo Lattek added: "We’ve played 'mean' today, with 'mean' I mean the non-chalant way of making our opponents look helpless. It must have been depressing for Stuttgart. It looks easy to play this way, but it is in fact hard work. Our players are constantly moving, which is one of our assets." On to the goals: 18 minutes are played when Bayern’s left wing Wolfgang Sühnholz got past right back Günter Eisele, crossed the ball to Gerd Müller at center forward position, Stuttgart goalie Zlatko Skoric did not stand a chance against the Bomber’s shot: 0-1! In the 40th minute, Wolfgang Frank converted a cross by Horst Haug from the left wing: 1-1! Bayern’s center back Katsche Schwarzenbeck didn’t mark Frank tight enough and generally had a troublesome day with Stuttgart’s center forward. Seven minutes after the break Wolfgang Sühnholz scored after a swift-footed combination between Sühnholz, Müller, Beckenbauer and again Sühnholz: 1-2! Seven minutes after Bayern’s second goal, the third one was scored by Gerd Müller, who converted after a 1-2 with Uli Hoeness: 1-3! Two minutes before time, Uli Hoeness started a dynamic solo after a freekick in Bayern’s own half, shaking off Herbert Höbusch he entered the box and struck from a difficult angle: 1-4! Bayern were on the way to winning the Bundesliga for a second time and on the way to that title they set to establish a couple of records that still stand today and are unlikely to ever be broken.


-------------------------------------------------VfB Stuttgart

------------------------------------------------------Skoric

--------------------------------G.Eisele-------Zech-----Entenmann---Coordes

-------------------------------------Höbusch-----Köppel-----Haug

-----------------------------------Weidmann------Frank-------Handschuh

------------------------------------------Manager: Branko Zebec


-----------------------------------------------Bayern München

----------------------------------Sühnholz---------G.Müller------E.Schneider

--------------------------------------Zobel-------U.Hoeness--------Roth

-----------------------------Breitner---Schwarzenbeck---Beckenbauer---Hansen

--------------------------------------------------------Maier

------------------------------------------------Manager: Udo Lattek

------------------------------------------------Subs:
------------------------------------------------68 Ettmayer in, Weidmann out