FC Bayern can look back on countless thrilling and exciting battles in the DFB Cup. However, one match stands out in particular and is still considered the mother of all cup games. Exactly 36 years ago to the day, the Reds played a semi-final against Schalke 04, a second-tier outfit at the time and allegedly the easiest team in the draw. However, in front of more than 70,000 spectators in the Gelsenkirchen Park Stadium, the 'Knappen' put up an epic fight that ensured the game would go straight into the history books
From the Bavarians' point of view, everything began as planned. With just twelve minutes on the clock, the favourites were already 2-0 up after goals from Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Reinhold Mathy. But Schalke reacted promptly and levelled the score. After Michael Rummenigge put the Reds ahead again, the men from the Ruhr valley managed to turn the match around in the second half. Ten minutes from time, Michael Rummenigge came to Bayern's rescue when he scored his second to make it 4-4 and send the game into extra time.
In extra time Dieter Hoeneß twice put Bayern ahead, and in the dying seconds of this memorable match the score was 6-5 for the men from Munich. But then the 70,000 fans in the stadium witnessed the birth of a new star. In stoppage time at the end of extra time, Olaf Thon, who would later go on to play for the Reds, and who had turned 18 just the day before, beat Bayern keeper Jean-Marie Pfaff for the third time to make it 6-6, which was how the game ended. There was no penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals and so the tie had to be replayed a week later - a match which Bayern won 3-2, taking them through to the final.
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