Bundesliga 2016/17: 5 greatest moments in German League history
When we look back over football history, or indeed our own history with the beautiful game, it’s never the true realities of the matches or even the seasons that manage to stick in our minds. Rather, it’s the individual moments, the last minute winners, the touches of transcendent quality and even the shock incidents that we remember even decades after they happened. These moments energise us, excite us and of course move our souls.
From the Premier League, all the way to the Bundesliga, such moments are what we follow football for and clearly, some moments are just more important than others when taken in the context of a match or a season.
Some mean much more in the long term while some are more spectacular, more surprising and just more symbolic. So in an attempt to determine the most historic moments, here are five moments from Bundesliga history.
#5 Last few minutes of Bundesliga 1991-1992
With the fall of the Berlin Wall in October 1990, the 1991-1992 season was the first time West Germany’s team met those from East Germany. However, only two East German sides (Hansa Rostov and Dynamo Dresden) were allowed into the Bundesliga, which further expanded to 20 clubs.
But neither did the reigning champions Kaiserslautern nor current holders Bayern Munich even got close to challenging for the Bundesliga title, with Bayern ending the season at 10th, their lowest finish since 1978.
Rostov started the season well, beating Dortmund and topping the table after just seven games, yet that would be their best position in a long time for the team. Meanwhile, Eintracht Frankfurt took over as pace-setters, all thanks to their coach Dragoslav Stepanovic who’d built an attractive passing team around midfielders. But, despite all their attractiveness, Frankfurt failed to beat Werder Bremen in the penultimate match of the season and that set everything up.
All this made for one of the closest title races in Bundesliga history, and Frankfurt were still on top, but now only on goal difference with both VFB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund right behind them.
All three clubs played away in their final match and against teams who desperately needed a win to survive. With less than 15 minutes to go, third-placed Dortmund were 1-0 up against MSV Duisburg, while Stuttgart were deadlocked at 0-0 against Leverkusen. Meanwhile, Eintracht Frankfurt were in Rostov, and Boger broke free in the 89th minute to make the final score 2-1 to Hansa Rostov, who still went down despite the victory.
But there was to be one more twist in the tale and with less than four minutes to go in Leverkusen, Guido Buchwald scored a late winner for second-placed Stuttgart, who, despite being down to ten men, finished on top. And despite having only led the table twice during the season, Christoph Daum’s men were champions for the first time since 1959.