To mark the club’s 125th anniversary, fans were given the chance to choose their best Bayern goal from 15 contenders. And you have spoken, crowning Arjen Robben’s famous finish in the 2013 Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley as your favourite goal from over a century of club history. Find out which other goals cracked your all-time top five.
1) Mr Wembley takes the crown
Arjen Robben worked his way past three Dortmund defenders before knocking the ball in to win the Champions League for Bayern. | © Getty
It just had to be Robben, was the thought of many supporters when the Dutchman teased the ball past Roman Weidenfeller in the 89th minute of the 2013 Champions League final. That man Robben who had cut such a desolate figure 12 months earlier after missing a penalty in the Finale dahoam. But now he was the hero of Munich once again after getting the better of an opponent who had caused Bayern such problems in previous years, claiming the Bundesliga title in back-to-back seasons. Wembley turned into redemption for both club and player. You couldn’t have written the script any better. It’s a moment that Bayern fans still remember with great fondness, and it’s perhaps no surprise that the defining action has gone down as the greatest goal in Bayern’s 125 years, winning 27 percent of votes.
2) Robben’s Manchester volley
Arjen Robben breached the Manchester United defence and compatriot Edwin van der Sar with his iconic volley in the Champions League quarter-finals. | © Imago
You get those days where goalkeepers appear unbeatable, where they seem to miraculously claw away a shot that everyone thought was destined for the back of the net. Edwin van der Sar looked like having one of those days on 7 April 2010 when Bayern went to Old Trafford for the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie against Manchester United. Louis van Gaal’s side were 3-1 down at the start of the second half and simply had to score if they were to reach the final four. But there was no way past the great Dutch goalkeeper, until Franck Ribery and Robben combined for one of their greatest moments in a Bayern shirt. The Frenchman signalled that he was going to deliver a corner to the near post. United players followed their opponents into the six-yard box, but Ribery looped the ball deep behind them, where Robben was free and met the delivery on the volley. It was such a precise and sweetly hit effort into the corner that even his compatriot Van der Sar had no chance. It ensured progress on away goals and takes pride of place as the second greatest goal in Bayern history, earning 17 percent of fans’ votes.
3) Matthäus volleys off the underside
Lothar Matthäus’s iconic finish against Bayer Leverkusen came third among fans in their vote. | © Imago
There’s an argument to say that Robbery stole their idea from two previous Bayern icons. Go back to Matchday 14 of the 1992/93 Bundesliga season and Lothar Matthäus combined with Mehmet Scholl to volley in a corner from the left in a 4-2 win at Bayer Leverkusen. Matthäus’ strike crashed off the underside of the crossbar and over the line to put FCB 2-1 up. “You can try that 1,000 times, but you’ll maybe only manage it once,” the former midfielder said of his finish, that was named Goal of the Year in Germany in 1992. And it’s also made the podium among Bayern fans, voting the former No.10’s goal as their third favourite over 125 years (13 percent).
4) Augenthaler from halfway
Klaus Augenthaler tried his luck from the halfway line to earn Bayern a 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt in the DFB Cup. | © Imago
Nine percent of votes went to Klaus Augenthaler as he claims fourth place for his famous finish against Eintracht Frankfurt in the first round of the 1989/90 DFB Cup. The sweeper first picked up the ball off a Frankfurt player in his own half before gliding past another opponent and into midfield. The Bayern No.5 then spotted goalkeeper Uli Stein off his line and decided to ping the ball from halfway over the stranded keeper and under the crossbar. It turned out to be the only goal of the game and was named Goal of the Century as Bayern advanced.
5) Schwarzenbeck's salvage effort
Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck struck one of the most important equalisers in Bayern’s history in the final of the 1974 European Cup. | © Imago
With 119 minutes played in the 1974 European Cup final between Bayern and Atletico Madrid, it looked like the continental title was heading to Spain. Luis Aragones had put Atleti ahead with a free-kick in extra-time in Brussels, but the Bavarians created one more chance with only moments to go. Franz Beckenbauer laid the ball off to Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, who played it out of his feet and picked out the bottom left corner of Miguel Reina’s goal from over 25 yards. “I don’t even know why I shot,” Katsche later said. Either way, the outcome was that the Munich native forced a replay, which Bayern famously won 4-0 to be crowned champions of Europe for the first time. Fans acknowledged that huge moment in the club’s history by voting it their fifth-favourite goal from the last 125 years with eight percent of votes.
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