Lothar Matthäus, Alexander Zickler, Ruggiero Rizzitelli, Mario Basler and Christian Nerlinger scored the goals in Bayern's last Bundesliga victory over Fortuna Düsseldorf, a 5-0 win dating back all the way to April 1997. But after a 15-year absence, Fortuna are back in the German top flight and play host to FCB on Saturday. fcbayern.de profiles Bayern's eighth league opponents of the 2012/13 campaign.
History:
Fortuna were founded in 1895 but have claimed the German championship just once, all the way back in 1933. However, the men from Düsseldorf were one of the leading clubs in the early years of organised football in Germany, regularly reaching the championship play-offs and the cup final.
F95 were promoted to the Bundesliga for the first time in 1966 but were immediately relegated. The club finally became established in the top flight after 1971 and enjoyed a period of success and stability through to 1987, with back-to-back DFB Cup triumphs in 1979 and 1980, and an appearance in the 1979 European Cup Winners’ Cup final, which ended in a 4-3 extra time defeat to Barcelona.
Fortuna's fortunes dived after 1987 and the men in red and white plummeted all the way to the fourth tier, where the club finally regrouped in 2004 and resumed an upward trend, culminating in a return to the first division last May.
The most famous names associated with the club are Klaus Allofs, Jupp Derwall, Paul Janes, Toni Turek, Rudi Bommer, Gerd Zewe – and oldie punk rockers Die Toten Hosen, local lads who will be named honorary members of the club prior to the meeting with Bayern.
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