Raimond Aumann ahead of Bayern’s Champions League second leg at Inter Milan: ‘Believe in yourselves!’

Raimond Aumann played in goal for Bayern for over 12 years. In December 1988, he experienced what he described as a “brilliant day”, guiding the Bavarians into the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup against Inter Milan. Ahead of Wednesday's Champions League rematch, the ‘hero of San Siro’ is convinced that Bayern can now repeat history.

Raimond Aumann on a special comeback

When referee Alexis Ponnet blew the final whistle after 90 minutes on a cold November evening, Bayern were left disappointed. Despite a decent performance, they had lost the first leg of their UEFA Cup last-16 tie 2-0 at home to Inter's star ensemble at the Olympiastadion. The thought of progressing was somewhat far-fetched. And what rubbed further salt in the wound was that two former teammates, Lothar Matthäus and Andreas Brehme, were now celebrating in the colours of their rivals.

“Lothar will forgive me today. Andy, who unfortunately is no longer with us, as well. But the two of them soaked up the admiration from the main stand like kings afterwards,” Aumann recalls. “That was additional motivation for us. We said to ourselves, let's see who has the last laugh.” Of course, it wasn't just because of the two ex-Bayern players. In the two weeks leading up to the second leg, an attitude developed within the Munich squad that would lead to one of the greatest comebacks in the club's history.

Believe in your strengths

Aumann and his teammates achieved at the same venue in December 1988 what the current generation of Bayern players will be hoping to achieve on Wednesday evening at Milan's Giuseppe Meazza, as they look to overturn a home defeat in the second leg. The scale of the task is illustrated by the fact that FCB have only achieved this feat once before in their long history, apart from that evening in San Siro (against Lokomotiv Moscow in 1995). Nevertheless, Aumann is not worried about Bayern now repeating history. “I can only advise them one thing: Believe in your qualities – they are exceptional. Then anything is possible.”

Ultimately, belief in their own strengths was the only thing the Bavarians had left before the second leg around 37 years ago. “We knew back then that nobody would bet a penny on us,” recalls Aumann – especially against an Italian team. At the time, Serie A was comparable to today's Premier League in England. Inter were the “who's who” in football, a “mega team”, the San Siro with its special atmosphere was an “absolute highlight stadium”, as Bayern’s long-time number one emphasised. But in Milan, “we wanted to show at least once that we are Bayern Munich and give as good a showing as possible”.

If you compared the two opponents across the pitch back then, “we certainly weren't the favourites,” explains Aumann. But sometimes team cohesion can triumph over the better individual players. Today, however, things are different. “Bayern have every chance of prevailing in Milan. Despite the injury crisis, they still have a very good squad. And they have a great coach.”

Just like Aumann and Co. had in Jupp Heynckes back then. “He was just as down as we were at first, but then he built us up and said: ‘Boys, we can do it!’ The closer we got to the second leg, the more we were convinced that we could do it.” General manager Uli Hoeneß even went one better and doubled the bonuses before kick-off in Milan. “That was nice to have, of course,” says Aumann. But “you can't motivate anyone on a day like this with money alone. We were so fired up ourselves to achieve the impossible.”

Three goals in nine minutes

Nevertheless, Bayern, who had been beaten in the first leg, were a little surprised at how well they were able to hold their own in the San Siro – “including Jupp”, says Aumann. After all, you couldn't have planned something like that. While everything seemed to be going right for the visitors, everything went wrong for the highly favoured home side. Bayern scored three goals within nine minutes through Roland Wohlfarth, Klaus Augenthaler and Jürgen Wegmann. At the other end, Brehme had to go off injured after just half an hour. However, Inter rallied and were able to reduce the deficit shortly before the break through Aldo Serena. One more goal and Bayern would have been out – and so for the next 45 minutes it was just Inter against Aumann.

“In the second half, Inter would just pour forward with their fans behind them,” explained the former Bayern keeper, who added, “But I felt very comfortable. You live for these games as a goalkeeper.” Aumann went on to save everything thrown at him – even seemingly unstoppable goals. He remembers one moment when Matthäus got past five or six opponents and was clean through on goal. “He obviously unleashed his full instep and I was able to save it,” says Aumann. The scene also left an impression on the opponents. “To this day, I still don't know how he saved it,” said then Inter defender Giuseppe Bergomi years later in amazement.

“It was Raimund Aumann's game. He was the player of the match. I still remember that very well,” stated Matthäus some time later. “After an outstanding first half, his saves got Bayern through to the next round with seven or eight brilliant stops in the second half.” Thanks to the ‘hero of San Siro’, as Aumann was later hailed, the Bavarian defence held firm to win 3-1. They had achieved something historic and had progressed to the next round. “Because it was actually impossible, people still talk about it today,” says Aumann. “And that makes all of us who achieved this footballing miracle a little bit proud.”

Blueprint for current crop

However, the terminology isn’t quite as big in the rematch of the clash on Wednesday evening. Joshua Kimmich, for example, said that they didn't need a miracle after the 2-1 loss in the first leg, but just a win, echoing Aumann's sentiments. “They only have to make up one goal. And then I'd like to see what happens when Bayern take the lead. Then everything’s open.” The 61-year-old is therefore firmly convinced that Harry Kane, Kimmich and their teammates will do the same and turn around the result of the first leg.

“Obviously it’ll be incredibly difficult to through there. But I believe that our team can do it if they focus on themselves and put everything into it.” After all, everyone at the club has the dream of reaching the final in Munich on 31 May, says Aumann. And to achieve this, they will have to make up for a defeat in the first leg. “The team is capable of doing that and I believe they can progress in Milan,” emphasised Aumann. Because the keeper knows one thing, and not just since his big night in San Siro: “As we all know, the final reckoning is at the end.”

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