Winterpause 73/74 : Torstensson To The Rescue

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Defending champion BAYERN MUNICH had finished the first half of the 1973/74 season on top of the Bundesliga table via goal-differential but trainer UDO LATTEK was still not satisfied. Although West Germany international star striker GERD “der Bomber” MUELLER and his fellow 1972 UEFA European Championships titlist, attacking midfielder ULI HOENESS, had combined to score 25 goals between them in the first 17 league contests of the term, the production from the wingers, in particular, left something to be desried. And so, as the Christmas holiday approached, certain Bavarian eyes looked to Scandanavia.

Now, Bayern Munich had already broken the existing Bundesliga record in the summer of 1973 by splashing out 880,000 Deutsche Mark to acquire West Germany international midfielder JUPP KAPELLMANN from 1.FC Koeln. But this massive expenditure did not prevent the Bavarians’ manager ROBERT SWAN from concluding yet another deal, this one with Swedish first division side FF Atvidabergs, to strenghten the regining Bundesliga titlists even further. And so, CONNY TORSTENSSON was signed by Bayern Munich in exchange for the sum of 580,000 DM, still a considerable transfer fee at this point in time.

It had been, after all, Torstensson who had scored two second-leg goals for FF Atvidabergs to give Bayern Munich such a fright in the first round of the UEFA European Cup. The 24-year-old winger was also an integral part of the Sweden national team which had already qualified for the 1974 FIFA World Cup final tournament to be held in West Germany. Torstensson, who ultimately went on to earn 40 caps and score seven goals in his career for Sverige, had been in the Startelf when Sweden defeated Austria 2-1 in a one-game, winner-take-all playoff match in Gelsenkirchen to settle Europe’s Group 1 and formally secure passage at the end of November in 1973.

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CONNY TORSTENSSON, BAYERN MUNICH
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Torstensson made his debut for Bayern Munich on December 15, 1973, exactly one week after the Bavarians had become Herbstmeister with the dramatic 4-3 victory over Borussia Moenchengladbach at the Olympiastadion. The Swedish international would begin the Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokal second round match with Werder Bremen at the Weserstadion on the bench but was sent on in place of midfielder RAINER ZOBEL eight minutes after the hour. And, it would take Torstensson all of ten minutes to deliver a first dividend on Bayern Munich’s major Winterpause investment.

As it turned out, Torstensson’s strike in the 78th was decisive as visting Bayern Munich dumped Werder Bremen 2-1 and marched on in the domestic cup competition. The pricey Swede’s first-ever goal for the Bavarians had proven itself to be a match-winner, then! Torstensson actually only scored one goal in 16 Bundesliga matches for his new employers, Bayern Munich, over the second half of the 1973/74 season but, then again, the coveted European Cup tournament was an entirely different matter altogether.

There would be more important goals for Torstensson to fire as the calendar year of 1974 began to unfold in earnest … but that would be another Bayern Munich history lesson for some other time.

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Tracksuit-wearing winger CONNY TORSTENSSON (left) of 1973/74 Bundesliga and UEFA European Cup champion Bayern Munich walks with Sweden World Cup goalkeeper RONNIE HELLSTROM, who would soon sign for 1.FC Kaiserslautern and spend the next seven seasons as first choice for the West German club, and striker ROLAND SANDBERG (right) of 1.FC Kaiserslautern, who had just scored 19 goals in his first Bundesliga season, during the FIFA Weltmesiterschaft tournament in the Bundesrepublik Deutschland in the summer of 1974.

Bayern Und Borussia In Den Winterpause

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West Germany international striker JUPP HEYNCKES (left) had scored 14 goals in 16 domestic matches for Borussia Moenchengladbach entering the exciting, winner-take-all clash with defending Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich and West Germany international goalkeeper SEPP MAIER (1) in the last game before the annual winter break marking the middle of the 1973-74 season.
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Only a second half equalizer from West Germany international superstar GERD MUELLER against Oberligameister Dynamo Dresden at the old Rudolf Harbig Stadion had enabled BAYERN MUNICH to narrowly avoid losing on the away goals rule and barely escape East Germany with hopes of a first-ever European Cup of Champions title still intact. But then, three goals in the final twenty minutes, including a third of the match from the goal-shark Mueller had allowed the Bavarians to overturn an early deficit and shoot down SV Hamburg 4-1 at the Olympiastadion. And a 2-2 draw on the road at Kickers Offenbach meant the defending champions could potentially overtake Eintracht Frankfurt at the top of the Bundesliga table on goal differential with a victory in the 17th and final round before the annual Winterpause in 1973.

Borussia Moenchengladbach, who lost the UEFA Cup Final 3-2 on aggregate to English side FC Liverpool but did win the Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokal in the spring of 1973, had seen off Glasgow Rangers 5-3 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup recently but were suffering from indifferent form in the Bundesliga as of late. In fact, die Fohlen had dropped three of their last five matches in the West German top flight including the heavy 6-1 loss to Vfb Stuttgart at the end of October. However, approaching the clash with Bayern Munich at the Olympiastadion on December 8, the North Rhine-Westphalian club could also still go top of the Bundesliga table with a win in Bavaria.

And so the stage was properly set. Oddly enough, what might have been promoted as a duel of West German national team goalkeepers instead materialized into an unmitigated shootout immediately. Indeed, no fewer than five ball successfully found the back of the net in the first twenty-three minutes of the match, alone.

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FRANZ ROTH made his Bundesliga debut with Bayern Munich in late August of 1966 and went on to appear in 322 matches while scoring 72 goals for the Bavarian club in the West German top flight thru the end of the 1977/78 season. Known as “Bulle” (bull) for a physical style of play as well as a blistering shot, the native of Memmingen made four appearances for the national team of West Germany in his career. Roth later crossed the border in the Alps region to put in a season with SV Austria Salzburg, who, ironically enough, are now owned by an energy drink manufacturer and are known as Red Bull Salzburg.

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Deployed up on the wing by Bayern Munich, the experienced FRANZ ROTH waltzed around Borussia Moenchengladbach sweeper KLAUS-DIETER SIELOFF, the 31-year-old with 14 caps for West Germany to his name, rather easily to complete a long, solo run. A near post shot snuck past goalkeeper WOLFGANG KLEFF and put the reigning Bundesligameister ahead only four minutes in but this advantage was erased almost instantly after West Germany international midfielder ULI HOENESS just could not reach a pass into the box by Borussia Moenchengladbach midfielder CHRISTIAN KULIK. Thus, visiting team captain HERBERT WIMMER was able to run on and even the score with just five minutes played at the Olympiastadion.

Wimmer was prominent again as Borussia Moenchengladbach took the lead with a well-worked goal in the 18th minute, as well. His precision cross from the right was laid off perfectly by seasoned striker BERND RUPP, the 31-year-old who had scored a goal in Turkey on his one and only appearance for West Germany way back in 1966. Denmark international HENNING JENSEN, whose two goals in Scotland provided die Fohlen the margin of victory in the Cup Winners’ Cup, then whipped the ball between the sticks and past Bayern Munich netminder SEPP MAIER to record his fourth goal of the campaign in the Bundesliga.

But Borussia Moenchengladbach would not remain in front for long, either, after Bayern Munich midfielder BERND DUERNBERGER latched onto a careless pass near the center stripe. A ball chipped into the box found Mueller on the right and more sloppy defending permitted der Bomber to rifle a left-footer into the lower corner with only twenty minutes gone in Bavaria. A Bundesliga-leading 16th goal of the season for the seemingly unstoppable Mueller, then.

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Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper WOLFGANG KLEFF started four consecutive friendlies for the national team of West Germany against the Soviet Union (W 1-0), Austria (W 4-0), France (W 2-1) and Scotland (T 1-1) in the fall of 1973 but, although the native of Schwerte was selected for the 22-man FIFA World Cup squad by trainer Helmut Schoen in 1974, never again appeared for his country thereafter.
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Duernberger was involved once more when Bayern Munich retook the lead just three minutes on, though, as Hoeness delicately kept his right wing cross in bounds at the goalline over on the left and then re-delievered the ball back in front. Bavarian midfielder RAINER ZOBEL rose and got his head on the ball despite the crowd; the resulting, looping header had no trouble beating the ineffective Kleff for a third time in under a half an hour. Surely, the rate of goals could not be sustained.

And it was not — although creative West Germany international sweeper FRANZ BECKENBAUER did prompt a fourth for Bayern Munich with a “dream pass” along the floor into the box for Hoeness four minutes after the hour. Kleff got a hand to the shot but would not prevent the 1972 West German Olympian from netting his ninth goal in the Bundesliga and 12th strike of the season in all competitions for the defending champions. A very important tally, too, as national team constituent RAINER BONHOF pulled a goal back for Borussia Moenchengladbach by blasting a long range effort into the top corner with just two minutes remaining.

Nevertheless, the 4-3 final scoreline was more than enough to push Bayern Munich to the top of the Bundesliga standings with exactly half of the 1973/74 West German football season now complete and the traditional winter break, following the first round of the Deutscher Fussball Bund Pokal, of course, just around the corner.

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Der Kaiser, FRANZ BECKENBAUER of Bayern Munich
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Olympiastadion, Munich
December 8, 1973
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December ’73 – Bayern Munich v Borussia Moenchengladbach

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West Germany international midfielder ULI HOENESS, the 1972 Olympian who finished number two with 17 Bundesliga goals for domestic champion BAYERN MUNICH during the 1972/73 campaign, again stood second on the Bavarian club with eight goals in the West German top flight entering the showdown with 1971 Bundesliga titlist Borussia Moenchengladbach in early December of 1973 at the Olympiastadion in Munich.
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Bundesliga – 17th round ….. December 8, 1973
Olympiastadion, Munich ….. Attendance – 65,000

BAYERN MUNICH
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GK – Sepp MAIER —————————- (West Germany 66-79 : 95 caps)
DF – Franz BECKENBAUER ————- (West Germany 65-77 : 103 caps, 14 go)
DF – Paul BREITNER ———————– (West Germany 71-82 : 48 caps, 10 go)
DF – Georg SCHWARZENBECK ——– (West Germany 71-78 : 44 caps, 0 go)
DF – Johnny HANSEN ———————– (Denmark 65-78 : 45 caps, 3 go)
MF – Bernd DUERNBERGER
MF – Rainer ZOBEL
MF – Uli HOENESS ————————— (West Germany 72-76 : 35 caps, 5 go)
FW – Franz ROTH —————————– (West Germany 67-70 : 4 caps, 0 go)
FW – Gerd MUELLER ———————— (West Germany 66-74 : 62 caps, 68 go)
FW – Erwin HADEWICZ

substitutes
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none

West Germany international PAUL BREITNER returned on defense after missing the last seven Bundesliga matches. Denmark international VIGGIO JENSEN, the 26-year-old summer signing from B 1909 Odense, is benched after starting the previous two league contests at left back; versatile 20-year-old BERND DUERNBERGER, who had also been filling in for the injured Breitner, retained a place on the left in midfield. Meanwhile, winger WILHELM HOFFMANN, the 25-year-old who had found the back of the net first in the opening leg of the historic UEFA European Cup of Champions tie with East German Oberligameister Dynamo Dresden, is dropped by Bayern trainer UDO LATTEK after appearing in eight consecutive games in all competitions with the Startelf.

With neither Hoffmann nor EDGAR SCHNEIDER doing much to register goals in the first half of the 1973/74 season, Lattek shifted in-form midfielder FRANZ ROTH up to the front line. The 27-year-old veteran capped four times by West Germany had shot four goals in his last seven Bundesliga matches heading into the big contest with Borussia Moenchengladbach just ahead of the annual Winterpause. And, 22-year-old ERWIN HADEWICZ was restored to the Startelf after coming on as a substitute for Bayern Munich in the last two matches.

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A pair of players in the Startelf when West Germany defeated the Soviet Union to win the Final of the 1972 UEFA European Championships at Brussels, team captain HERBERT WIMMER (left) and prolific striker JUPP HEYNCKES, flank Borussia Moenchengladbach goalkeeper WOLFGANG KLEFF, who made six appearances for the Bundesrepublik Deutschland in his career.
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BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH
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GK – Wolfgang KLEFF ————— (West Germany 71-73 : 6 caps)
DF – Klaus Dieter SIELOFF ——– (West Germany 64-71 : 14 caps, 5 go)
DF – Dietmar DANNER ————– (West Germany 73-76 : 6 caps, 0 go)
DF – Berti VOGTS ———————- (West Germany 67-78 : 96 caps, 1 go)
DF – Herbert WIMMER ————- (West Germany 68-76 : 36 caps, 4 go)
MF – Christian KULIK
MF – Horst KOEPPEL —————- (West Germany 68-73 : 11 caps, 2 go)
MF – Rainer BONHOF —————- (West Germany 72-81 : 53 caps, 9 go)
FW – Jupp HEYNCKES ————– (West Germany 67-77 : 39 caps, 14 go)
FW – Bernd RUPP ———————- (West Germany 66 : 1 cap, 1 go)
FW – Henning JENSEN ————– (Denmark 72-80 : 21 caps, 9 go)

substitutes
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none

Borussia Moenchengladbach and trainer HENNES WEISWEILER were still adjusting to football life without GUENTER NETZER, the West Germany international star midfielder who had been sold to Spanish La Liga giant Real Madrid in the summer of 1973.

The 1972 Bundesliga champion were also sans the emerging 19-year-old ULI STIELIKE, who also eventually went to Real Madrid and later featured at sweeper when West Germany won the 1980 UEFA European Championships in 1980. Stielike had assumed a regular place in the Startelf for Weisweiler after the second round of the Bundesliga but went out injured after the eleventh round in the middle of October. HANS-JUERGEN WITTKAMP, the experienced, 26-year-old former Schalke 04 Gelsenkirchen defender, had not been fit for die Fohlen since the previous spring.

ALLAN SIMONSEN, the youngster whose goal-scoring for Denmark at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games host by Munich had helped land the contract with the North Rhine-Westphalian club, had not yet found the form that would, one day, bring a European Footballer of the Year award and still spent most of his time on the bench for Borussia Moenchengladbach at this point in time.

Herbst ’73 : East Meets West In European Cup (second leg)

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With the official match ball in hand, French referee ROBERT WURTZ leads the two sides out onto the pitch before the capacity crowd at the Dynamo Stadion for the return leg of the historic European Cup meeting between host DYNAMO DRESDEN, captained by East Germany’s 1972 Olympic bronze medalist FRANK GANZERA (far left), and visitng BAYERN MUNICH, skippered by West Germany’s 1972 European Cup of Nations champion FRANZ “der Kaiser” BECKENBAUER (far right).
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The close loss by the minimum margin and three potentially-vital away goals in the bank from the first leg in Bavaria had left Oberligameister DYNAMO DRESDEN with all to play for in the return leg of the historic European Cup tie with Bundesligakoenig BAYERN MUNICH a fortnight later in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik.

Dynamo Dresden trainer WALTER FRITZSCH made no changes to his Startelf from the initial encounter in the Bundesrepublik Deutschland. As for the other side, Bayern Munich were now without the services of winger BERND GERSDORFF, who had been substituted at the half against Dynamo in the first leg and then subsequently transferred back to the club from whom he had arrived in the summer, Eintracht Braunschweig. Inserted into the Bavarian team was seldom-used EDGAR SCHNEIDER, the 24-year-old former 1972 West Germany Olympic squad member who had started just three of Bayern’s first fourteen games in the Bundesliga thus far.

Bayern Munich trainer UDO LATTEK, more importantly, adopted a particular strategy which proved to be most effective — West Germany international superstar striker GERD “der Bomber” MUELLER was instructed to drift back deep into midfield and allow the in-form ULI HOENESS, the West Germany international midfielder who had found the back of the net in both of the Bundesliga shutout victories against Vfb Stuttgart and Vfl Bochum in the Bavarians’ two matches since the first leg against Dynamo in Munich, to move into the space created up front.

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The ploy worked to perfection right away as Mueller’s markers, including the talented but still only 22-year-old libero HANS-JUERGEN DOERNER, were drawn out of position in the center of the Dynamo Dresden defense. Twice within the game’s first dozen minutes, the 21-year-old Hoeness beat his shadow, the 29-year-old veteran EDUARD GEYER, for pace at the back while giving Bayern Munich the quick 2-0 advantage. A tenth goal of the season in all competitions for Bayern Munich by Hoeness also had Dynamo looking directly from the wrong side of a 6-3 aggregate scoreline.

Dynamo Dresden were not in the frame of mind to fold their tent so early in their home city, however, and pulled a goal back from Olympic bronze medalist and East Germany international defender SIEGMAR WAETZLICH three minutes before the halftime whistle. Inside the home side’s dressing room, Geyer is said to have cried like a baby for his mishandling of the situation. But it would be a pair of youngsters, both of whom went on to have great success at the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal a few years later, who led the charge with an immeidate second half counterattack for the hosts.

18-year-old midfielder HARTMUT SCHADE finally was able to head the ball into the net following a mad scramble in front seven minutes after the re-start to level the match for Dynamo Dresden and bring the Oberliga club within one on aggregate. Just four minutes later, 21-year-old East Germany international midfielder REINHARD HAEFNER scored again to give the hosts a 3-2 edge for the evening and the all-important, tie-breaking lead by virtue of the away goals rule. And so the socialist David had the capitalist Goliath down but, sadly for the partisan crowd at the Dynamo Stadion, ultimately failed to finish off the Bavarian giant.

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West Germany international striker GERD “der Bomber” MUELLER (13), who scored two critical goals for Bayern Munich in the European Cup of Champions tie with Dynamo Dresden roughly eight months earlier, found his success-rate decline sharply in his second meeting with opposition from the Deutsche Demokratische Republik and could only put a ball off the proverbial woodwork against East Germany in the historic FIFA World Cup match at Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion in late June of 1974.
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Bayern Munich, in fact, responded within a scant 120 seconds after falling behind on aggregate. At the heart of the movement was the two-goal hero Hoeness, who, after, exchanging passes with Mueller, played a ball into the box for Schneider on the left. A last ditch tackle by the Dynamo Dresden defense dispossed the winger, who would not score a goal on any of his ten appearances in either Europe or the Bundesliga for Bayern Munich during the 1973/74 campaign and, after the season, be sent on his way to FC Augsburg.

But the ball fell kindly for the central striker Mueller and the world’s most dangerous Torjaeger at that time quickly swept the ball past advancing Dynamo Dresden goalkeeeper CLAUS BODEN and restored Bayern Munich’s advantage to 7-6 on aggregate.

Another goal from Dynamo Dresden could have sent the match to penalty kicks, as had happened to Bayern Munich in their first round tie with Swedish club FF Atvidabergs. But Lattek’s troops were able to tighten up at the back and survive the final half hour in the German Democratic Republic. And so it, in the end, it was the Bundesligakoenig who were able to outlast the Oberligameister in a back and forth, high-scoring affair over two legs on both sides of the Iron Curtain — but only just.

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The decisive goal of GERD MUELLER (9) for visiting Bayern Munich against host Dynamo Dresden in the second leg at the Dynamo Stadion in Dresden

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November 7, 1973
European Cup of Champions
second round, second leg

3 – DYNAMO DRESDEN ———— Waetzlich 42′, Schade 52′, Haefner 56′
3 – BAYERN MUNICH ————— Hoeness 10′, 12′, Mueller 58′

DYNAMO DRESDEN : Boden; Helm, Doerner, Waetzlich, Ganzera, Haefner, Geyer, Schade (Riedel 78′), Sachse, Heidler, Rau

BAYERN MUNICH : Maier ; Duernberger, Beckenbauer, Schwarzenbeck, Hansen, Zobel, Roth, Hoeness, Schneider, Mueller, Hoffmann

Ins And Outs Of Cold War Football

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West Germany star midfielder ULI HOENESS (14), who netted a skillful goal for the Federal Republic’s side in the 3-2 loss to the German Democratic Republic at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games hosted by Munich, would play a pivotal role for Bundesliga champion Bayern Munich in the second leg of the historic European Cup tie with Oberliga titlist Dynamo Dresden at the Dynamo Stadion in the fall of 1973.
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Union of European Football Association regulations expressly state that the visiting club in a sanctioned competition must arrive in the city in question the day before the match to be contested. Therefore, according to official Stasi reports, a crowd of curiousity-seekers from both sides of the Iron Curtain numbering about four hundred converged on the Dresden’s Hotel Newa in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik hoping to get a glimpse, if not an autograph or other souvenir from West Germany international stars such as sweeper FRANZ “der Kaiser” BECKENBAUER, striker GERD “der Bomber” MUELLER or, perhaps, goalkeeper SEPP MAIER the day before the second round, second leg clash between Bundesligkoenig BAYERN MUNICH and Oberligameister DYNAMO DRESDEN in the European Cup of Champions. All were left disappointed, however, as the expected Bayern team bus never did arrive in the city often referred to as the “Florence on the Elbe” until about 2:30 in the afternoon the next day, only a few hours before kickoff.

The truth was the Bayern team bus had stopped overnight in northern Bavaria on the fringe of the East German border before finishing the trip to Saxony for the second leg in the D.D.R. the next morning. The official explanation offered by Bayern, if rather flimsy at best, revolved around the difference in altitude. It was cited that the Alpine city in West Germany was 500 meters above sea level whereas Dresden was only 106 meters in comparison.

Years later, it was revealed that the real reason for the late arrival of Bayern Munich for the second leg with Dynamo Dresden was centered around suspicions of a more classic Cold War nature. A few years prior to the famous European Cup tie between Bayern and Dresden in 1973, highly-competent Western teams had experienced trouble with diarrhea and other sickness during a UEFA youth tournament staged in Leipzig. Two players who had been directly affected at that time were none other than Bayern Munich’s very own, by-now West Germany senior internationals PAUL BREITNER and ULI HOENESS; aside from the concerns about the food in Leipzig, there were further worries that hotel quarters and meeting rooms had been equipped with electronic listening devices.

European Cup Historical Perspectives

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With some of the empty seats easily recognizable in the background, youthful West Germany international star midfielder ULI HOENESS of Bayern Munich seeks to dribble away from his Dynamo Dresden shadow EDUARD GEYER (4), the 29-year-old veteran who was later serving as the national team trainer of East Germany when the Berlin Wall symbolically fell in the fall of 1989, during the historic first leg of the European Cup of Champions tie at Munich’s Olympiastadion in late October of 1973.
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Strange by contemporary standards in Bavaria nowadays, but a crowd of ‘only’ 50,000 had shown up for the first leg at the Olympiastadion in Munich to witness the very first all-Deutschland duel between West German titlist BAYERN MUNICH and visiting East German champion DYNAMO DRESDEN in the second round of Europe’s premier football competition — this a full 30,000 shy of the total that had turned out to see the Olympic battle between the Bundesrepublik Deutschland and the Deutsche Demokratische Republik in the very same stadium at the 1972 Munich Summer Games just thirteen months earlier.

It should be remembered that, at this point in time of the club history, Bayern Munich had still ‘only’ won three domestic crowns in the Bundesliga and had never lifted the prestigous European Cup. As a matter of fact, local supporters of cross-town rivals TSV 1860 Munich took full advantage of ticket availability as well as great delight in singing along to the “Dynamo” song with the one thousand visitors from the D.D.R. (all of whom had first successfully passed a strict government screening procedure in order to obtain the necessary permission) at the Olympiastadion. Sometimes, in the highly-competitive world of professional football, there is just no place for political ideology and/or nationalistic loyalty.

It is also interesting to recall that the passionate, football-loving people of Dresden were, at that time, not free to descend en masse on the city of Munich and swallow up any remaining match tickets, as is certain what would have happened had ordinary citizens of that East German city the simple freedom to travel outside their country to the West; as it was, the 1,000 Dynamo supporters who did appear at the Olympiastadion for the match with Bayern Munich had all been part of a detailed and elaborate plan code named “Aktion Vorstoss” (Action Raid) implemented by the German Democratic Republic’s Ministry for State Security.

Selling out the second leg of this landmark European Cup tie a couple of weeks later behind the Iron Curtain was never going to be anything even remotely resembling a problem, but that would be another story.

Fall ’73 : East Meets West In European Cup (first leg)

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Denmark international fullback JOHNNY HANSEN of Bayern Munich (right) and Dynamo Dresden winger RAINER SACHSE, who would later in his career be capped twice by the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, both eye the ball during the opening leg of the historic, first-ever all-German battle in the prestigous European Cup of Champions tie contested at Munich’s Olympiastadion in the Bundesrepublik Deutschland.
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As for the actual game itself, the inaugural all-German encounter in European competition certainly provided more of the back and forth sort of drama and excitement than the abundance of media hype and hoopla on both sides of the Iron Curtain in the three weeks leading up to the match could have ever possibly hoped to have asked for.

Trainer UDO LATTEK deployed the very same Startelf for the match with the Oberligameister at the Olympiastadion in Munich that had, just a few days earlier, taken part in the now-famous “Wunder von Betzenberg” game. This, the second half debacle during which Bayern Munich conceded six unanswered goals in the final half hour to thoroughly snatch an eye-opening 7-4 defeat from the jaws of victory at 1.FC Kaiserslautern in the Bundesliga. So, perhaps it was only fitting that the visitors from Lower Saxony scored first when Bayern Munich’s Denmark international defender JOHNNY HANSEN put the cross from Dynamo Dresden captain and defender FRANK GANZERA into his own net with barely a baker’s dozen minutes played.

WILHELM HOFFMANN had scored nine goals for Bayern Munich during the Bundesliga title-winning campaign the season before but essentially lost his place when the Bavarian club paid a then-record fee to sign West Germany international JUPP KAPELLMANN from 1.FC Koeln and also added attacker BERND GERSDORFF from relegated Eintracht Braunschweig in the summer of 1973. A very first goal of this new term in any competition from the recently restored 24-year-old winger arrived at a fortuitous time, though, and brought Bayern level. The move had been initiated by the versatile BERND DUERNBERGER, the 20-year-old capable of deployment up front on the wing but now replacing injured West Germany international PAUL BREITNER at left back.

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A deflated trio from the reigning two-time West German Bundesliga champions of Bayern Munich — BERND DUERNBERGER (3), the guilty Dane JOHNNY HANSEN (3) as well as FRANZ ROTH (6) — all despair as the East German Oberliga champions collectively celebrate after visiting Dynamo Dresden opened the scoring in the first leg of the European Cup tie at the Olympiastadion in southern Bavaria.
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Duernberger soon delighted the Bayern Munich supporters less than ten minutes later after taking a short pass from club captain and West Germany international libero FRANZ BECKENBAUER just outside the penalty area on the left. After a parallel run across the top of the box, the youngster unleased a wicked and irrepressible right-footer which banked in off the far post and staked the Bavarians to their first lead of the night. A second strike in Europe, then, for Duernberger, who already netted in the first round against Swedish side FF Atvidabergs, and, including Bundesliga contests, marked a seventh goal of this 1973-74 campaign for the former ESV Freilassing youth product.

Dynamo Dresden refused to remain behind for long and the visitors from the D.D.R. equalized when winger RAINER SACHSE was left all alone to easily head past Bayern Munich’s West Germany international goalkeeper SEPP MAIER from close range in the 36th minute. Just six minutes later, the 23-year-old Sachse sent shock waves through the Olympiastadion, if not the whole of Europe, by nodding down another cross from the captain Ganzera out on the left to the unattended GERT HEIDLER in front. The 25-year-old central striker, who later went on to earn 12 caps and score two goals for East Germany, controlled neatly to easily beat the luckless Maier, again from tight quarters.

And so it was the underdog of the German Democratic Republic, conquerors of Italian Serie A giant FC Juventus of Turin the first round, who adjourned for the halftime break in Bavaria a goal to the good. Entirely displeased with the situation, Bayern Munich president Wilhelm Neudecker entered the home team’s dressing room at the Olympiastadion and announced the prize money of 10,000 Deutsche Mark per man would be doubled should the Federal Republic club rally to victory in the second half. Meanwhile, the trainer Lattek decided to withdraw Gersdorff, who had scored two goals before being sent off in the Wunder von Betzenberg, in favor of inexperienced midfielder ERWIN HADEWICZ, the 22-year-old who had made exactly one substitute appearance in fourteen matches for Bayern Munich in all competitions thus far this season.

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West Germany international superstar striker GERD MUELLER of Bayern Munich, who netted twice against the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics during the Final of the 1972 UEFA European Championships in Belgium, looks to settle the ball in front of Dynamo Dresden defender SIEGMAR WAETZLICH (far right), who earned a bronze medal for East Germany at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games hosted by Munich, during the first leg of the historic European Cup of Champions duel at Munich’s Olympiastadion in late October of 1973.
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If perhaps nervously, Neudecker and the rest of the Bayern Munich supporters were made to wait until less than twenty remained in the match with Dynamo Dresden for the score to be knotted once more.

But then youthful West Germany international star midfielder ULI HOENESS, the 21-year-old talent who scored such a magnificent goal against East Germany in the Olympiastadion at the 1972 Munich Summer Games thirteen months ago, floated a high ball into the box that was not properly cleared by the Dynamo Dresden defense. Although Hoffmann could not control cleanly, he wisely allowed veteran midfielder FRANZ ROTH to take over and the 27-year-old with four caps for West Germany, with the aid of a slight deflection of Ganzera, was able to shoot past Dynamo Dresden’s young goalkeeper CLAUS BODEN.

The always-reliable midfielder Roth went on to register eight goals in the Bundesliga over the course of that 1973-74 campaign, but this would stand as the career Bayern Munich man’s only strike in Europe for the season.

Finally, in the 83rd minute, the most lethal striker in all the world at that time stepped to the forefront to decide the match in the Bavarians’ favor. Midfielder RAINER ZOBEL lifted a ball from out on the left wing into the area hoping for Hoeness but none of the four players in the vicinity were able to make contact. After being allowed to disastrously bounce in the box by the heart of the Dynamo Dresden defense, West Germany international star striker GERD “der Bomber” MUELLER met the ball at the back post and finished routinely to record his third strike in Europe and 15th goal of the season in all competitions for Bayern Munich.

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Herbst ’73 : Historic Team Sheet – Bayern Munich v Dynamo Dresden

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In reality, there was no looking back for West Germany international goalkeeper and 1972 Europameisterschaft titlist SEPP MAIER (1) as Bayern Munich club captain FRANZ “der Kaiser” BECKENBAUER (5) and Dynamo Dresden Spielfuehrer FRANK GANZERA (2) lead their respective teams out onto the pitch at the Olympiastadion in Munich for the historic first leg of the European Cup of Champions second round clash on October 24, 1973.
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BAYERN MUNICH
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GK – 29 – Sepp MAIER ———————– (West Germany 66-79: 95 caps)

DF – 29 – Johnny HANSEN —————– (Denmark 65-78 : 45 caps, 3 go)
DF – 28 – Franz BECKENBAUER ——— (West Germany 65-77 : 103 caps, 14 go)
DF – 25 – Georg SCHWARZENBECK — (West Germany 71-78 : 44 caps, 0 go)
DF – 20 – Bernd DUERNBERGER

MF – 27 – Franz ROTH ———————— (West Germany 67,70 : 4 caps, 0 go)
MF – 24 – Rainer ZOBEL
MF – 21 – Uli HOENESS ———————- (West Germany 72-76 : 35 caps, 5 go)

FW – 27 – Gerd MUELLER —————— (West Germany 66-74 : 62 caps, 68 go)
FW – 26 – Bernd GERSDORFF ————- (West Germany 75 : 1 cap, 0 go)
FW – 25 – Wilhelm HOFFMANN

substitutes
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MF – 22 – Erwin HADEWICZ
for Gersdorff (46th min)

Trainer UDO LATTEK’s side were still missing regular left back, West Germany international and 1972 Europameisterschaft titlist PAUL BREITNER (48 caps, 10 goals in his career), who had been out injured since early October; another player not in the Bavarian Startelf was 23-year-old West Germany international winger JUPP KAPELLMANN, who had broken the existing Bundesliga record with his transfer costing 880,000 Deutsche Mark from 1.FC Koeln in the summer but scored just one goal on his first ten appearances (nine starts) with Bayern Munich to begin the 1973-74 campaign.

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Holding the club pennant to be exhcanged, captain FRANK GANZERA (far right), who featured for the East German Olympic XI against the West German Olympische Elf in this very same stadium at the 1972 Summer Games just thirteen months previously, looks down the line of the Dynamo Dresden players ready to contest Bayern Munich in the first leg of the historic European Cup of Champions tie at the Olympiastadion in Munich, West Germany.
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DYNAMO DRESDEN
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GK – 22 – Claus BODEN

DF – 26 – Frank GANZERA —————— (East Germany 69-73 : 13 caps, 0 go)
DF – 25 – Siegmar WAETZLICH ———- (East Germany 72-75 : 22 caps, 0 go)
DF – 22 – Hans Juergen DOERNER —— (East Germany 69-85 : 96 caps, 8 go)
DF – 21 – Christian HELM

MF – 29 – Eduard GEYER
MF – 21 – Reinhard HAEFNER ———— (East Germany 71-84 : 54 caps, 4 go)
MF – 18 – Hartmut SCHADE —————- (East Germany 75-80 : 28 caps, 4 go)

FW – 25 – Gert HEIDLER ——————– (East Germany 75-78 : 9 caps, 2 go)
FW – 24 – Horst RAU
FW – 23 – Rainer SACHSE ——————- (East Germany 77 : 2 caps, 0 go)

substitutes
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FW – 26 – Dieter RIEDEL ——————— (East Germany 74-78 : 4 caps, 0 go)
for Sachse (75th min)
DF – 21 – Udo SCHMUCK ——————— (East Germany 76-81 : 7 caps, 1 go)
for Rau (83rd min)

Trainer WALTER FRITZSCH and Dynamo Dresden had been doing without injured goal-hunter HANS JUERGEN KREISCHE, the reigning Oberliga Torjaegermeister the past three seasons who would later end his career as the third leading scorer in the history of the East Germany national team, for quite some time; another player not in the Lower Saxon Startelf was FRANK RICHTER, the 21-year-old striker who finished the 1972/73 season as the second-leading goal-scorer for the Oberliga titlist.

Fall ’73 : Media Circus Comes To Munich

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It was, as later observed by the well-known publication Der Spiegel, a “feast for the West German media”.

Of course, the people in the Propaganda Ministry had their share of fun railing against the capitalist class enemy on the other side of the border in East Germany, too, ever since the draw had been made by UEFA at the Hotel Atlantis in Zurich, Switzerland, in early October, 1973.

Dynamo Dresden trainer WALTER FRITZSCH and ‘department manager’ DIETER FUCHS were besieged with requests for interviews by West German journalists throughtout the whole of their scouting trip to the Bundesrepublik Deutschland to watch two matches of European Cup opponent Bayern Munich later that month. The contacts had been meticulously noted and reported to the Ministry of State Security by Fuchs, who was actually a captain in the Volkspolizei and acting as the official agent for the dreaded Stasi. Only one interview was granted which, as we shall see, did little to effectively diminish either the enthusiasm or enterprise of the West German news media.

The official Dynamo Dresden party traveling to Bavaria would actually consist of 15 players, the trainer and his assistant, the team doctor and a massage therapist — along with five Stasi agents masquerading as football team officials.

Upon arrival at the Esso Motor Inn in Munich, a few members of the West German media inquired if they might be allowed to accompany the Dynamo Dresden team on its scheduled shopping trip in the city. As was mandated prior to the match by the East German Ministry of the State Security prior to the historic European Cup tie, all contact between the Dynamo delegation and decadent Westerners was to be strictly prohibited and so the requests were summarily denied. But the local journalists had jobs to do and so the Dresden team bus was “chased” down the street, as officially reported.

At the shopping district in the Munich center city, the situation degenerated even further.

Despite being told it was against the wishes of the Dynamo Dresden team, photographers swarmed like flies and snapped pictures of the uncooperative players. Reporters shamelessly and persistently made offers to buy gifts for the wives of the players back home, what would East German women behind the Iron Curtain want to have? These attempts at sheer bribery were all rebuked by the Dynamo players, although the Stasi officer did note his official report that he could not personally verify every such instance.

One West German reporter candidly confessed to one of the Dynamo Dresden ‘team officials’ that the newspaper editors had specifically instructed he and his colleagues to to come back with some photos and stories of the East German visitors at all costs or else! … “Non-compliance of the order would (place) their position in danger,” the official Stasi report later read.

Herbst ’73 : “Wunder Vom Betzenberg”

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Bayern Munich winger BERND GERSDORFF, the off-season signing from relegated Eintracht Braunschweig who recorded two goals but also later received his marching orders in the well-remembered “Miracle of the Betzenberg”, lost this particular battle for the ball to 1.FC Kaiserslautern goalkeeper JOSEF ELTING during the famous Bundesliga match staged in late October of 1973.
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The match, itself, rightfully remains among the most riveting contests in the annals of the Bundesliga and, indeed, featured one of the most improbable and outright remarkable comebacks in of all German football history.

Two-time defending league champion BAYERN MUNICH were cruising comfortably as the hour mark approached opposite 1.FC KAISERSLAUTERN in the Bundesliga match being played on October 20, 1973. The visting Bavarians were well ahead 4-1 at the Betzenbergstadion thanks to a pair of goals from summer signing BERND GERSDORFF and West Germany international striker GERD MUELLER. A second goal from the superstar Mueller in the 57th minute had all but put the points in the proverbial bag for Bayern Munich trainer UDO LATTEK’s well-stocked side.

After all, the white-shirted visitors fielded five players against 1.FC Kaiserslautern on the turf that noteworthy day at the Betze who had been starters for West Germany’s title-winning squad at the 1972 European Cup of Nations tournament. Moreover, three of those champion players — GEORG SCHWARZENBECK, club captain FRANZ BECKENBAUER and goalkeeper SEPP MAIER — were deployed at the back by the Bavarians. The task facing die Roten Teufel, who, in direct contrast, featured just one player who had already been capped by West Germany at this point in time, was a monumental one to be certain.

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JOSEF “Seppl” PIRRUNG of 1.FC Kaiserslautern, who ultimately appeared in 304 career Bundesliga matches for die Roten Teufel and would make his international debut within one month of the photo here, slips the ball past West Germany’s 1972 European Cup of Nations champion goalkeeper SEPP MAIER of Bayern Munich in the 43rd minute of the famous “Wunder von Betzenberg” match; the Bavarian trainer Udo Lattek later lamented that the play Pirrung made to sneak up on and steal the ball from Bayern Munich midfielder Franz Roth to score just before the break only served to foreshadow exactly what was in store for the visitors the second half of the famous match at the Betzenbergstadion in October of 1973.
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1.FC Kaiserslautern were not about to consign themselves to defeat after the legendary der Bomber shot his second, however. 22-year-old midfielder KLAUS TOPPMOELLER struck back within sixty seconds by getting his head to a long ball played into the box by Red Devils right winger JOSEF PIRRUNG to generate hope. And an uncharacteristic mistake at the back, in part by Beckenbauer, allowed Pirrung to grab his second goal of the match just three minutes later and pull die Roten Teufel within one.

The 24-year-old Pirrung, who would record a career high 13 goals in the Bundesliga during the 1973-74 season, then scored his third goal of the game from a tight angle on the right and pulled rejuvenated 1.FC Kaiserslautern level with Bayern Munich after Maier had stopped a free kick in the 73rd minute.

The dismissal of Gersdorff with a straight red card only three minutes after the equalizer tipped the scales once and for all and also spelled the end of the line for the 26-year-old Bayern Munich winger, who was transferred back to Regionalliga Nord (second division) Eintracht Braunschweig on the first day of November.

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This goal from 1.FC Kaiserslautern’s Man of the Match KLAUS TOPPMOELLER (far left) would be disallowed but the 22-year-old midfielder, who burst onto the Bundesliga scene with 21 goals for die Roten Teufel during the 1973-74 campaign and would later be capped three times by West Germany in his career, provided the Vorarbeit for the decider in the memorable “Wunder von Betzenberg” match in October of 1973.
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Despite having a goal waved off by the match referee, 1.FC Kaiserslautern blitzed ten-man Bayern Munich with a further three goals in the history-making final stages. Toppmoeller began the romp with a square ball at the top of the box for on-rushing defender ERNST DIEHL, the captain of die Roten Teufel in the 84th minute. HERBERT LAUMEN, the only member of the trainer ERICH RIBBECK’s Red Devils team to have been capped by West Germany coming into the match, clinched a victory for the ages with a pair of goals late.

The sudden and surprising 7-4 defeat to 1.FC Kaiserslautern literally shocked Bayern Munich. The reigning two-time West German champions were all set to host East German titlist Dynamo Dresden in the second round of the prestigous European Cup in just a few days time at the Olympiastadion in Munich but the result at the Betzenbergstadion only served to raise the alarm about Bayern Munich’s defense. That, however, is another story.

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1.FC KAISERSLAUTERN : Elting – Huber, Diehl, Schwager, Fuchs – Toppmoeller, Bitz, Laumen – Pirring, Sandberg, Ackermann

BAYERN MUNICH : Maier – Hansen, Beckenbauer, Schwarzenbeck, Duernberger – Zobel, Roth, Hoeness – Hoffmann, Mueller, Gersdorff