The ball was loose and two of the greatest German strikers of all time had their sights set on it: Gerd Müller in the bright shirt of FC Bayern and Jupp Heynckes – future treble-winning coach of FCB – in the dark of Borussia Mönchengladbach. The photo sadly doesn’t make it clear who won the ball, but it was taken on 2 October 1965 in Mönchengladbach, when FCB and Borussia met in the Bundesliga for the first time.
It was the start of a Bundesliga classic, which to this day provides great excitement and epic matches. On Friday, the two sides come up against each other for the 105th time in the German top flight, with Bayern playing away as they were in this photo. And as far as the fans, management and players of the German record champions are concerned, a repeat of the outcome then would be quite alright – ‘der Bomber’ & Co won 2-1.
In a battle of promoted teams, Bayern travelled to a packed-out Bökelberg stadium as league leaders on Matchday 7 of the 1965/66 season, but it was the 13th-placed hosts who made the better start. Günter Netzer gave Borussia the lead in the 33rd minute, but Bayern could count on their deadly strike duo. Rainer Ohlhauser levelled things up shortly before half-time and Müller netted the winner in the 78th minute, so it was the Munich man who prevailed in the battle of the top strikers.
In the ‘Looking back’ series, fcbayern.com presents discoveries from the photo archives.
FCB legend Rainer Ohlhauser, who scored that day, celebrates his 80th birthday today:
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