West champions versus East champions – a clash of systems off the pitch and a great football contest on it. On this day 50 years ago, FC Bayern beat Dynamo Dresden over two legs in the European Cup second round, in the first ever all-German meeting in the history of the competition.
As soon as the draw was made, it was clear this would be about more than just a football match. Under the so-called "Aktion Vorstoß" ("action push"), preparations in the Ministry for State Security (MfS) were in full swing in the East. Public expressions of sympathy for the "class enemy" by GDR citizens were to be prevented, which is why the approximately 1,000 Dresden supporters for the first leg in Munich's Olympiastadion on 24 October, 1973 were personally selected. Anyone with relatives in the West, for example, was not allowed to travel. Contact with West Germans was also supposed to be avoided: under the watchful eye of Stasi agents and a large number of "unofficial collaborators" (IM), the Dresden supporters only arrived at Munich Central Station on matchday on two special trains. After a communal lunch, they all went into the stadium together.
Win bonus increased during half-time
The Dresden team, on the other hand, had already taken up quarters in the Bavarian capital the day before, shielded by MfS employees. On the part of the hosts, however, fear of the arrivals from the neighbouring country was limited. "The Dynamo team is no opponent. If they knock us out, I'll move to the zone," said Bayern general manager Robert Schwan at the time – and that came home to roost. Despite the Munich goals by Willi Hoffmann (17th minute) and Bernd Dürnberger (26th), Dresden led 3-2 at the break thanks to goals by Rainer Sachse (13th/34th) and Gert Heidler (42nd). Needless to say, the then FCB president Wilhelm Neudecker was not at all pleased with this current score on his 60th birthday and increased the victory bonus to DM 12,000 at half-time. The measure had an effect. Bayern turned the tide and won 4-3 after goals from "Bulle" Roth (71st) and Gerd Müller (83rd).
However, the result was far from an ideal starting position for the return leg on 7 November, which is why the Munich men now had to play hardball. For fear of being spied on or, in the worst case, even having something mixed into their food, the team did not spend the night on site as stipulated before European Cup matches, but instead stayed in Hof in Upper Franconia, 180 kilometers away on West German territory. The reason given for not staying in the team hotel "Newa" at the venue was "acclimatisation problems for the team due to the difference in altitude between Munich and Dresden".
Bugged meeting rooms
This excuse was chosen "very clumsily", admitted Uli Hoeneß years later. However, the precautionary measure was also prompted by a warning from the then FCB attacker that there had previously been cases of diarrhea among some of the West German teams at a UEFA youth tournament in Leipzig in 1969. "There was a suspicion that something had been put in the food; that the rooms, including meeting rooms, had been bugged," Hoeneß went on to explain. The concern was obviously not entirely unfounded: when Bayern moved into their designated accommodation the afternoon before the game to hold the team meeting, the MfS had bugged the rooms and learned some internal details before kick-off.
The Stasi people had also designed the area around the stadium according to their own ideas. Unwelcome residents were accommodated in hotels for the period surrounding the match, and the spectators in the stadium were largely hand-picked. In addition to the 8,500 or so season ticket holders, only around 8,000 tickets went on public sale. The remaining 35,500 seats were reserved for security personnel (some of whom were undercover), loyal citizens and members of the party and state apparatus. And of course, the 1,600 away supporters who arrived in a special train and several buses were also strictly sealed off from the outside world before entering the venue.
Bayern lead early
However, these actions had no influence on what happened on the pitch: less than a quarter of an hour had passed before Hoeneß (10th/12th), of all people, gave the Reds a 2-0 lead with a brace. But Dynamo did not give up and turned the game around with goals from Siegmar Wätzlich (42nd), Hartmut Schade (52nd) and Reinhard Häfner (56th). However, the Saxons' hopes of progressing did not last long – just two minutes after Dresden made it 3-2, Müller (58th) equalised. Bayern held on for the draw and progressed to the quarter-finals. The hard-fought success gave the team of then coach Udo Lattek a boost: a good six months later, FCB became the first German team to win the European Cup with a 4-0 win in the replay against Atlético Madrid.
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