Some of the direct match ups have produced unforgettable moments. But the most demanding emotional challenge occurred indirectly, in separate matches during the 34th round of the 2000-2001 season.

Schalke 04 hosted Unterhaching, while the German title holders were treated to the hot-tempered northern "hospitality" of a Hamburger SV that had its sights on München. Does that jog any memories?

It was a season finale, the drama of which has overshadowed all other title outcomes to date. We take a look back.

Schalke defeat Bayern twice

Schalke 04 came out on the attack that season. Huub Steven's squad threw down the gauntlet against FC Bayern in the 12th round, winning 3-2 at home. In the 29th round, Schalke was all business. A "Sand" storm blew through München's Olympia Stadium and swept FC Bayern from the table lead with a 3-1 victory.

The "Royal Blues" now stood alone at the top, two points ahead of the Bavarians. The hunter had become the hunted. But Schalke 04 failed to keep their gaze focused on the title and stumbled in the 31st round with a 1-1 draw against last place Bochum. Bayern tied with Bayer. The Bundesliga chase for the title now promised to be a thrilling finish and was on a certain course to its zenith.

In the impressive Premiere report "04 Minutes in May", those who witnessed it tell how, where and when...

"My God, this is really something!"

33rd round, around 17:15 CET. Tom Bayer is the commentator for Schalke's last away game of the season in Stuttgart. His colleague, Hansi Küpper, sits in the booth for the meeting between Bayern and Kaiserslautern in München's Olympia Stadium. In Stuttgart the score is 0-0, in München, 1-1. It's the 90th minute. Suddenly, the unthinkable happened. Tom Bayer shouts, "goal in Stuttgart!" With a sweet left-foot shot, Krassimir Balakov dispelled VfB's relegation worries.

"I'd just taken a deep breath to say: 'My God, this is really something!'", remembers Bayer. But the end result remained undetermined as Hansi Küpper looked on in München as Alexander Zickler moved in from the left and shot, the ball colliding with a defender and sailing high in the air. Zickler swooped in and nailed it straight under the cross bar. "Goal here and in Stuttgart! Crazy! Crazy!"

Match delay on account of banana shot shower

Schalke 04 fell short just a few meters from the finish line in their bid to seize first place in the table. Bayern was once again on top. In the last round of play, the "Royal Blues" had to defeat Unterhaching and hope for a solid scoring performance from HSV against the league leaders.

"We were looking forward to it, not knowing what would happen", recalls Fritz von Thurn and Taxis, who was the commentator for the very last Schalke match at the old Gelsenkirchen Park Stadium.

Reporting from Hamburg, Marcel Reif witnessed a veritable storm of banana shots in the penalty area of Oliver Kahn. It took a few minutes until Kahn and others were able to uproot the freshly planted garden. Only then was the opening whistle blown.

"At this moment, Schalke are the German champions!"

Schalke appears to be about to collapse under the enormous pressure like a house of cards. André Breitenreiter and Miroslaw Spizak give Unterhaching a 2-0 lead in just the first 27 minutes. Nico van Kerckhoven and Gerald Asamoah then equalise; Jan Seifert then puts them ahead 3-2 in the 69th minute. Up and down, an emotional rodeo for 65,000 fans. And it continues...

Jörg Böhme turns the match around inside of two minutes, 4-3 Schalke. Ebbe Sand made the end result 5-3 for Schalke. Duty fulfilled. But what are Bayern doing in Hamburg?

"Bayern are up against the ropes ", reports Marcel Reif as Sergej Barbarez heads a ball in the penalty area, sailing it toward the right post and past a consternated Oliver Kahn. "At this moment, Schalke are the German champions!", shouts Marcel Reif.

"Too stupid to last the last three minutes"

A deafening roar of celebration breaks out in the Park Stadium. "Unbelievable scenes here, unfathomable!", reports Fritz von Thurn and Taxis out of Schalke.

Unfathomable is also the situation for Bayern: "Suddenly it's 0-1 and everything is gone", says the former Bayern coach Ottmar Hitzfeld in retrospect. "Damn it, if we lose the match, the Champions League is also in jeopardy. Then you'll have everyone coming down on you, and the press will say, you're just too stupid to be able to survive the last three minutes."

Hansi Küpper was a commentator for the match in Hamburg: "I'm the first TV commentator after 1958 to utter the following: 'German champion Schalke 04!' That was totally clear at that point!"

A different world in Schalke

"The match is over and FC Schalke 04 are the German champions!", announced Fritz von Thurn and Taxis as well out of Gelsenkirchen, but cautiously added: "Is that true?"

The then Schalke captain Mike Büskens recalled the moment: "The emotion and celebration going on in this stadium, you could really feel what football was all about. You can't compare that with München. It's a different world here!'

In Hamburg, Bayern's substitute players sit on the bench with their heads hung low. Bixente Lizarazu's expression suggests he's in the wrong film. And while most of FCB's players hold their heads in their hands and stare blankly at the turf, Oliver Kahn puts the ball under his arm and takes the team's fate and honor into his hands.

"Too early!"

Thurn and Taxis also sees that on the score board and he warns: "The match in Hamburg isn't finished yet! It's too early. Bayern is still playing. Bayern is still playing!"

Hansi Küpper also has his doubts: "Injury time is ticking away and Schalke are the champions. Aren't they?"

The house is burning down in Hamburg. Bayern is battling in the last minutes for a chance while contending with the deafening whistling from the crowd. There couldn't be more tension in the air.

Then came Kahn


A few seconds into added time, Mathias Schober took a pass and referee Markus Merk whistled for an indirect free kick, eleven meters to the left in front of the HSV goal. Marcel Reif smiles in anticipation: "Indirect free kick! Stop it! For God's sake..."

But then Kahn's will came into play.

"Oliver Kahn ran around like a mad man then to do everything, everything possible, to remove whatever Hamburg might put in the way", recalls Hansi Küpper.

The then Bayern captain went so far as to say: "He tried to provoke me too. He wanted to shoot the free kick himself!"

From the "party house" to the grave yard

Marcel Reif underscores the moment: "This situation will decide the championship. A goal now and Bayern are champions. A miss, and we offer our congratulations to Schalke 04."

Five seconds later and all of the Hamburg's players have formed what looks like an impenetrable wall. But then Patrik Andersson executes a standard kick. "Goal! FC Bayern are champions! I don't believe it! Impossible! I've never experienced anything like it. People, I give up. Unfathomable", comments Reif.

Fritz von Thurn and Taxis follows the events on Schalke's video display: "For God's sake, for God's sake! I sensed this would happen. From a 'party house' Park Stadium to a grave yard..."

For Mike Büskens, the disappointment was still palpable years later: "Because you feel empty. You work for that the whole year. In my case, a whole football career. I just have to live with it, to have been a champion of hearts but not a champion of the Bundesliga."

Bayern fan from on high

"I no longer believe in a football God", said Rudi Assauer after the match. Ebbe Sand didn't want to turn complete apostate but admitted: "If there is a football God, then he's a Bayern fan..."

Text: Michael Wollny
Translation: Brian Frank