Bundesliga
Bayern made mistakes when they made a change: In the past, there were sometimes harsh consequences
Interruption in the game SC Freiburg – Bayern Munich in Freiburg’s Europa-Park stadium with the player Nico Schlotterbeck (3rd from left) from SC Freiburg, who drew the attention of referee Christian Dingert to the twelfth man.
© Silas Stein / dpa
The Bavarians play in Freiburg with twelve players: This change error occupies the Bundesliga. Mishaps like this have happened before, sometimes with dire consequences.
FC Bayern’s curious change error is by no means the first mishap of this kind in German professional football. Even great coaches like Hennes Weisweiler, Giovanni Trapattoni, Otto Rehhagel and Christoph Daum once made a mistake when swapping players. Most recently, the then Wolfsburg coach Mark van Bommel caused a stir in the DFB Cup. After the 28th Bundesliga matchday, the discussion is now about Bayern, who were on the pitch for a few seconds with twelve players in the 4-1 win in Freiburg. A selection of change errors:
In 1977, Hennes Weisweiler was the first coach to make a serious mistake in the Bundesliga. The Cologne coach at the time brought on Roger van Gool, the third foreign player, at Eintracht Frankfurt. At that time only two were allowed. However, there were no consequences: Cologne lost 0:4 anyway.
In 1992, Stuttgart’s Christoph Daum came on for the Yugoslav defender Jovica Simanic in the Champions League at Leeds United (3-0/1-4). Now four foreigners were on the field for VfB – only three were allowed at the time. UEFA scored the game 3-0 for Leeds and ordered a play-off, which VfB lost 1-2.
A similar mishap happened to Eintracht Frankfurt coach Horst Heese in 1992/93. In the end, there was one foreigner too many on the pitch. The 5:2 against Bayer Uerdingen was turned into a 0:2. Heese’s interlude in Frankfurt lasted only three months.
Bayern Munich’s cult coach Giovanni Trapattoni sent the future national player Dietmar Hamann onto the pitch as the fourth contract amateur at Eintracht Frankfurt in 1994/95. Only three were allowed. FC Bayern won the match 5-2, but the points went to Frankfurt.
A year later, Karlsruhe coach Winfried Schäfer lost track of things. Russia’s Sergey Kiryakov came on as a substitute and fourth foreigner against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Even the stadium announcer joked: “Winni, count your foreigners”. But since KSC lost 1:4 anyway, the result was not annulled.
In the last Bundesliga game of the 1995/96 season, Klaus Augenthaler, who was on the Bayern Munich bench for interim coach Franz Beckenbauer, missed the target. He made a fourth change against Fortuna Düsseldorf – one too many. However, Düsseldorf did not lodge a protest, the 2:2 was counted.
Champion coach Otto Rehhagel replaced Pascal Ojigwe in the 1. FC Kaiserslautern game against VfL Bochum in 1998/99 after an injury to the Dane Michael Schjönberg. The problem: There were already three non-Europeans on the lawn. After that, FCK held back so that Bochum still won 3:2 and decided not to protest.
In 2004, VfL Wolfsburg lost their first-round game in the DFB Cup at 1. FC Köln II (3-0) at the kick-off. Coach Erik Gerets set up Marian Hristov, who was suspended from red. “I have to take responsibility for it,” said manager Peter Pander at the time. Two days later he had to resign after 13 years in office, and his departure was presented as a resignation.
Wolfsburg got hit again at the beginning of this season. Coach van Bommel brought on six players in the cup game at Preußen Münster. The Dutchman had made three substitutions during regular time, and three more professionals were added in extra time. According to the DFB statutes, only five changes are allowed. Accordingly, Admir Mehmedi should no longer have come into play for Maximilian Philipp. The DFB sports court ruled out VfL’s 3-1 victory and scored the game 2-0 for Munster.
