Even though FC Bayern have not always secured wins against Eintracht Frankfurt in the recent past, previous Bundesliga encounters between the two big clubs provide some great moments that every Bayern fan will be happy to remember. Ahead of the next meeting away to Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday (18:30 CET), fcbayern.com looks back at five memorable games against the team from Hessen:
21 August 1965: First win for the future record champions
It was the start of a long success story. Newly promoted FC Bayern played their first home game in the new Bundesliga on 21 August 1965. After the unfortunate opening defeat away to city rivals 1860 Munich, the young bucks of Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier and Co. wanted to show what they could do in front of the home crowd at the Grünwalder Stadium. FCB beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 with goals from Rainer Ohlhauser (23’) and Rudolf Nafziger (86’) in their first win in Germany's top flight. Another few were to follow – Bayern are now German record champions and lead the all-time Bundesliga table with an almost uncatchable 1,162 wins.
3 June 1972: Goals galore in farewell to the Grünwalder
Bayern's opening fixture at Grünwalder Straße against Eintracht Frankfurt was a success – and the team from Hessen were also involved in the final match there: Two weeks before moving to the Olympic Stadium, built for the 1972 Summer Olympics, the Reds ran out onto the pitch at the revered Giesinger Stadium for the last time: The game between the league leaders and Eintracht in fifth place developed into a thrilling encounter. The Eintracht goals were scored by Thomas Parits (33’), Jürgen Grabowski (55’) and Bernd Hölzenbein (57’) with Rainer Zobel (8’/72’), Beckenbauer (25’) and Gerd Müller (47’/68’/77’) netting for FCB. Der Bomber not only made the difference again with his hat-trick in the 6-3 win but he also set a Bundesliga record with goals number 38 to 40 in that season and that achievement lasted for 49 years. That match remains the highest-scoring encounter between FCB and Eintracht Frankfurt along with the 7-2 victory for Bayern at the end of May 1981.
15 April 1995: Trapattoni's curious 'confusion'
A maestro can also make mistakes. Bayern won 5-2 at the Waldstadion in Frankfurt on matchday 26 in 1994/95 – however, the victory on the pitch was later declared to be a defeat: After the hosts took a 2-1 lead, the record champions fought back and turned the game round with goals from Marcel Witeczek (45’), Christian Ziege (48’/83’) and Dieter Frey (80’). But the comeback was in vain as coach Giovanni Trapattoni made a mistake with 15 minutes to play as he brought on a fourth player on an amateur contract in Dietmar Hamann after keeper Sven Scheuer, Samuel Kuffour and Marco Grimm. That was against the rules – and the game was awarded to Eintracht with a 2-0 scoreline.
18 September 1999: Goalkeeper Tarnat rescues Bayern
Everything went wrong for FC Bayern on the day – but the Reds did secure a sensational victory away to Eintracht on matchday five in the 1999/2000 season. FCB were behind after 20 minutes and Bayern player Michael Wiesinger went off injured in the first half. Then came the big blow on 56 minutes: Kuffour caught Oliver Kahn, who had just saved a penalty taken by Frankfurt’s Jan Åge Fjørtoft, with his knee and knocked him out. Bernd Dreher came on to replace the injured number one. But the substitute keeper did not last long. Dreher had to go off with a torn cruciate after just eight minutes. There was much discussion. Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld had to decide which outfield player would go in goal. Michael Tarnat volunteered. The full-back had played in goal for a few times in training and he finally convinced Hitzfeld that he was the man to go between the sticks in place of Dreher. The plan worked like a dream: Tarnat kept a clean sheet in style and Giovane Élber (66’) and Kuffour (80’) turned the game around. The match ended in an incredible 2-1 win for FCB.
18 May 2019: Title celebration with big farewell
Eintracht coming up, Dortmund in mind – the last matchday in the 2018/19 Bundesliga season. Bayern needed one point in the race with BVB to become champions. FCB produced a gala performance and lifted the title with a convincing win. But that was not all on this special day from the perspective of the record champions. In Arjen Robben, Franck Ribéry and Rafinha, three long-standing Bayern players were bidding farewell to the club they helped to shape over many years. Everything went like a dream: After strikes from Kingsley Coman (4’), David Alaba (53’) and Renato Sanches (58,), Ribéry (72’) and Robben (78’) both scored their last goals for Bayern after coming off the bench in their final FCB home fixture. The 5-1 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt also saw FCB secure the league title for the first time at the Allianz Arena.
Key facts and stats on the away game at Eintracht Frankfurt:
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