#3 The end of an era – Schalke end Bayern Munich’s four-year unbeaten home run
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The headlines the Monday after the match read, “The End of an Era” and it was indeed an end of an era as Bayern Munich’s most glorious years in the Bundesliga came to an end, marked by the end of a historic unbeaten home run.
During a four-year unbeaten streak at home, Bayern Munich, in a series of 73 games, won 62 games and drew 11, scoring 257 goals and conceding 74 in the process. FC Schalke 04, on the other hand, had a troublesome few years – with a young team involved in the 1971 Bundesliga scandal and almost all their major stars banned for most of the 1972-73 and the beginning of the 1973-74 season.
In spite of all these lingering demons, Schalke still pulled off an unlikely and yet significant victory. The match began somewhat cautiously but Bayern Munich went on the attack, missing crucial chances through Gerd Muller, who like the Bayern team, looked off his game.
The second half, however, had all the excitement, with scoring chances in both boxes plenty for either team. Schalke opened the scoring in the 68th minute. The game looked all but over before the Royal Blues finished it off with a second goal, a minute from full time.
That was all it took and Bayern Munich fell apart. Complacency and a lack of consistency and quality seeped through the team, something unthinkable for a team that had won the European Cup, and three league titles.
They lost again the following week and finished the season with an unprecedented 14 losses, spending most of the season near the relegation spots. The game, while not an isolated incident that season, turned out to be the catalyst and Bayern ended up with their second worst finish ever to a Bundesliga campaign, even to this day.
