retired_amyslack

January 9th 2002 – Clash Of The Titans
The two best teams in Germany served up an attacking treat as Dortmund welcomed FC Bayern to the Westfalenstadion for a crucial match that could play a major part in deciding the Bundesliga title. Not that either manager would accept that this game was a title decider with almost half the season remaining but Bayern took a definite advantage in the championship race with their 2-1 win. Michael Ballack put the visitors in front from the penalty spot after 11 minutes but Ewerthon tied the scores 6 minutes later. There was little to choose between the two teams for the remainder of the half, or the remainder of the game come to that. Alexander Zickler scored what proved to be the winning goal just two minutes into the second half but then limped off injured shortly afterwards. The win takes Bayern 8 point clear of their rivals and puts them in pole position for the league title.


January 27th 2002 – Below Par Bayern Do Enough
Borrusia Mönchengladbach failed to take advantage of a sluggish performance by FC Bayern as the visitors struggled to get into their stride after the January break. Their play improved somewhat in the second half and goals from Hasan Salihamidzic and Zé Roberto gave Bayern a 2-0 win.

retired_amyslack

February 2nd 2002 – Nürnberg Come Close
Nürnberg came very close to repeating the fine 1-1 draw that they achieved at home to FC Bayern earlier in the season in another battling performance in Munich. Michael Ballack opened the scoring after 15 minutes but some heroic defending kept Bayern at bay for the remainder of the half. As in their previous encounter Nürnberg keeper Marko Simeunovic formed an almost impenetrable last line of defence. Then with 15 minutes remaining the visitors scored a dramatic breakaway goal to tie the scores. But 5 minutes later a moment of indiscipline in the Nürnberg defence resulted in a penalty award and Ballack coolly converted for his second goal of the game to give Bayern a narrow 2-1 win.


February 6th 2002 – Bayern Through To Cup Final
FC Bayern booked their place in the German Cup Final with a fine 3-0 win over Kaiserslautern. Pizarro and Élber put them in the driving seat with early goals and the Brazilian striker added his second 15 minutes from time. Bayern will face Leverkusen in the final after they narrowly defeated Duisburg of the Second Division 2-1.


February 9th 2002 – Bayern Suffer First League Defeat
VfB Stuttgart inflicted the first league defeat of the season on an out of sorts FC Bayern side with a narrow 1-0 win. The visitors struggled to get their rhythm established with key creative midfielder Michael Ballack clearly not at his best. Lizarazu was also struggling in his first game back from injury and didn’t offer the attacking support that he normally would. Stuttgart took the lead late in the second half and then sat back to see out the remaining time. Bayern coach Adolf Bohl re-shuffled his formation with Élber coming on as a third striker and his team almost snatched a late draw but Claudio Pizarro showed his inexperience by blasting over the bar when all that was required was a simple tap in. The defeat ended a run of 26 consecutive wins and a 37 game unbeaten sequence.

retired_amyslack

February 12th 2002 – Roma Defeated In Munich
FC Bayern recovered from the disappointment of losing their unbeaten league record by recording a good 1-0 victory over Roma to keep their 100% record in their Champions League group. The home side saw more of the ball during the 90 minutes but excellent goalkeeping by Francesco Antonioli kept the game scoreless until Michael Ballack made the crucial breakthrough with just 10 minutes remaining. With 9 points in the bag one more win in the group should see Bayern through to the knockout stages.


February 13th 2002 – Hitzfeld Goes To England
Former FC Bayern manager Ottmar Hitzfeld has accepted a position as manager of Sunderland in the English Premier League. Currently fighting relegation, the club sacked Howard Wilkinson last week. Hitzfeld is said to be looking forward to the challenge of managing in England and working at a club with the potential of Sunderland.


February 16th 2002 – HSV Well Beaten
HSV were sent back to Hamburg on the wrong end of a 4-0 scoreline as FC Bayern got back to their attacking best. Élber, Salihamidzic and Ballack put the home side 3-0 ahead in a blistering first 10 minutes as they caught the visitors cold. Salihamidzic got his second of the game before half time and Bayern were able to play out the second period in a very relaxed manner.


February 20th 2002 – Bayern Into Champions League Knockout Stage
An impressive 3-1 win in Rome has ensured that FC Bayern have qualified for the Quarter Finals of the Champions League. Roma were always second best in this encounter as Bayern looked sharp and aggressive. Élber gave the visitors a first half lead that Zé Roberto doubled on the hour mark. Roma quickly pulled a goal back through Francesco Totti but Zé Roberto scored his second of the game late on to secure qualification.


February 23rd 2002 – Bayern Power On
Another league match, another win, as FC Bayern continue their remorseless progress towards the Bundesliga title. The victims this time were Hannover 96 as home advantage proved little value with Bayern triumphing 3-1. The home side took the lead on the half hour mark and were looking confident but 5 minutes later Bayern were back on terms through an unfortunate own goal. Élber gave the visitors the lead after the break and Michael Ballack added the third with 20 minutes remaining.

retired_amyslack

March 2nd 2002 – 10-Man Bayern Win München Derby
Despite playing with 10 men for most of the game after Sammy Kuffour was sent off for a two-footed lunge, FC Bayern were still too good for local rivals 1860 München. Michael Ballack opened the scoring after 22 minutes with Zickler and Élber both finding the net in the second half. The Brazilian striker has now scored 30 goals in all competitions this season.


March 5th 2002 – Victory In Newcastle
Despite having already qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League FC Bayern fielded a full-strength team for their visit to Newcastle United and returned with a comfortable 3-0 win. The visitors were dominant throughout with Élber scoring twice in the first quarter of an hour and Claudio Pizarro adding the third before half time. Jens Jeremies picked up a booking and he will miss their final group game at home to Valencia.


March 9th 2002 – Khan Blunders Cost Bayern
FC Bayern captain Oliver Kahn shouldered the blame for their 2-1 defeat at Hertha BSC, taking responsibility for both of the home side’s goals. Despite getting off to a good start through an early Claudio Pizarro goal, a lapse in concentration by Kahn allowed Hertha to equalise on the stroke of half time. Worse was to follow for the captain as his fumble gifted another goal just 10 minutes into the second period. Bayern worked hard to find an equaliser but home keeper Christian Fiedler would not be beaten and the visitors suffered only their second league defeat of the season. Bayern also lost Hasan Salihamidzic to injury in the first half and he is likely to miss a month or so of action.

retired_amyslack

March 13th 2002 – Bayern Bounce Back
FC Bayern responded to their unexpected league defeat at the weekend with an excellent 4-1 win over Valencia in their final Champions League group game. Michael Ballack gave them the lead from the penalty spot after 15 minutes, his 25th goal of the season. There was no further scoring in the first half as Valencia defended well. The visitors clawed back an equaliser with one of their few attacks of the game on the hour mark but Alexander Zickler responded with two splendid goals in a two-minute spell. Élber added the 4th near the end to wrap up a fine win. Bayern will face Dutch side PSV in the Quarter Final.


March 16th 2002 – Cottbus Offer No Threat
FC Bayern brushed aside visitors Cottbus with a comprehensive 4-0 win. Owen Hargreaves, Élber and Claudio Pizarro all scored in the first period with Michael Ballack adding the 4th after the break. It was a quality performance throughout the Bayern team and the relegation-threatened visitors were never in the game.


March 30th 2002 – Quality Tells
The league encounter between Kaiserslautern and FC Bayern went the way of the home side for two thirds of the game but in the end the quality of the visitors was made to count. Kaiserslautern took a very early lead and defended it ferociously for most of the first half. Bayern lost defender Thomas Linke after 30 minutes and it was his replacement Leandro Cufré that headed home the equaliser before the break. Having made the breakthrough the visitors then continued to attack fiercely and profited from two goals in two minutes by Élber and Jeremies before Ballack wrapped things up fpr a 4-1 win.

retired_amyslack

April 3rd 2002 – Bayern Too Strong For PSV
FC Bayern returned from their Champions League Quarter Final first leg against PSV in Eindhoven with an excellent 2-0 win and must now be firm favourites to progress to the Semi Finals. The home side were well contained by the Bayern defence all evening, rarely mustering an effective attack. The first half ended scoreless but the visitors took the lead in the 51st minute through Alexander Zickler. Ten minutes later PSV defender Wilfried Bouma thought that he had headed home the equaliser but his effort was ruled out because of an offside decision. Seconds after that disappointment PSV suffered a body blow when Claudio Pizarro scored Bayern’s second goal to double their advantage. But the German side suffered a blow of their own when Sebastian Deisler left the field injured just minutes after coming on in place of Zickler. The prognosis is that the youngster has a knee strain that will sideline him for up to three weeks.


April 6th 2002 – Ten-Man Bochum Beaten By Bayern
Visiting VfL Bochum gave themselves a mountain to climb at FC Bayern by having attacker Peter Graulund sent off after just 5 minutes. The home side took full advantage with Élber opening the scoring and Michael Ballack adding two more in the first half hour. Bochum pulled a goal back with a disputed penalty and reached the break 3-1 down. Bayern attacked fiercely in the second period, having two goals disallowed because of offside decisions and seeing two further efforts scrambled off the line.


April 13th 2002 – Bayern Take Title
A 4-0 win at Schalke 04 gave Adolf Bohl’s FC Bayern team the Bundesliga title in the new manager’s first season in charge in München. When Claudio Pizarro opened the scoring on 18 minutes with his 24th goal of the season the result was never in doubt. Michael Ballack notched his 30th goal just 4 minutes later and Élber scored his 37th on the half hour. Ballack added a 4th late in the game to round off a terrific win, Bayern’s 27th league victory of the season so far.

retired_amyslack

April 17th 2002 – Bayern Into Champions League Semis
A comfortable 3-0 win in their Quarter Final Second Leg at home to PSV gave FC Bayern a comprehensive 5-0 aggregate victory over the Dutch side. Defending a 2-0 advantage from the first leg Bayern took the lead through Robert Kovac after 20 minutes to make the game safe. Two second-half goals from Élber sealed the win and Bayern will face Milan for a place in the final.


April 20th 2002 – Élber Blow For Bayern
An out of sorts FC Bayern suffered their first home defeat in the Bundesliga this season as Leverkusen recorded a 2-0 win in München. But with the league title already secured the loss was not the problem – a torn groin muscle means that key striker Élber will miss the rest of the season and the Brazilian’s absence will be a serious blow to Bayern’s Champions League hopes. He is joined in the treatment room by midfielder Michael Ballack who suffered a broken nose but manager Adolf Bohl is hopeful that Ballack will be fit in a week or so.


April 27th 2002 – Kovac Off But Bayern Do Enough
In preparation for their Champions League Semi Final first leg at home to Milan on Wednesday, FC Bayern boss Adolf Bohl fielded virtually a complete second-string team for the visit to Werder Bremen. A poor match ensued as struggling Bremen failed to take advantage of their weakened opponents. Even the dismissal of Nico Kovac 5 minutes before half time for a dangerous two-footed challenge did not afford the home team a breakthrough. A goal from Alexander Bugera, his second in only 4 starts this season, was good enough for Bayern to take the points and leave Bremen still perilously close to the relegation zone.

retired_amyslack

May 1st 2002 – Bayern Take Narrow Lead To Milan
FC Bayern will defend a narrow 3-2 lead at the San Siro in Milan after an enthralling first leg encounter. A relatively quiet first half ended scoreless but the game burst into life in the second period. Zé Roberto opened the scoring for the home side in the 63rd minute but 60 seconds later the dangerous Andriy Shevchenko equalised for Milan. Zé Roberto was in irrepressible mood however and he gave the advantage back to Bayern with 14 minutes remaining. Then on 83 minutes Filippo Inzaghi was on hand to prod the ball home after Oliver Kahn found a Shevchenko shot too hot to handle. But fortunately for Adolf Bohl’s team Roque Santa Cruz came up with a late winner, scoring Bayern’s third with just 4 minutes remaining. Having conceded two away goals, Bayern will need to be at their best to progress to the Final. In the other Semi Final Juventus and Real Madrid fought out a 2-2 draw in Torino with the visitors coming back from a two-goal deficit to secure the draw.


May 4th 2002 – Bayern Sign Off With Win
FC Bayern completed their final league game of the season with a narrow 1-0 win over rivals Dortmund to end up 15 points clear of their nearest challengers. With many key players being rested before the climax of the season Bayern were still good enough to get the win thanks to a goal from Sebastian Deisler after half an hour. The final league table is as follows.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C FC Bayern 34 16 0 1 55 6 13 2 2 38 10 89 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2nd Dortmund 34 13 2 2 41 10 10 3 4 39 17 74 3rd Leverkusen 34 12 3 2 34 13 9 4 4 26 20 70 4th HSV 34 12 3 2 33 14 8 3 6 29 28 66 5th Bochum 34 12 1 4 36 16 8 3 6 36 29 64 6th VfB Stuttgart 34 15 0 2 30 8 4 5 8 15 21 62 7th Hertha BSC 34 14 1 2 37 14 2 7 8 16 31 56 8th Hannover 96 34 12 0 5 42 24 5 3 9 29 33 54 9th Wolfsburg 34 8 4 5 38 29 6 2 9 22 29 48 10th Kaiserslautern 34 8 5 4 27 17 4 2 11 23 41 43 11th M'gladbach 34 9 5 3 36 21 2 3 12 12 34 41 12th 1860 München 34 5 11 1 25 21 2 3 12 14 36 35 13th Nürnberg 34 7 5 5 21 21 1 5 11 14 32 34 14th Schalke 04 34 8 2 7 27 30 1 3 13 16 45 32 15th Werder Bremen 34 7 3 7 28 29 1 1 15 14 46 28 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------16th R Bielefeld 34 6 5 6 23 31 0 3 14 13 39 26 17th R Cottbus 34 4 2 11 25 46 3 2 12 19 43 25 18th R Rostock 34 4 2 11 22 35 1 0 16 10 46 17</pre>

Bayern have lost just 3 league games all season and have conceded a mere 16 goals and scored 93 in 34 games. Having now completed a treble by adding the Bundesliga to the Super Cup and the Intercontinental Cup they will be trying to add the German Cup and the Champions League title to their trophy cabinet.

retired_bbcarr

that's an impressive record, bob :thup: especially conceding just 6 goals at home. hope you can keep it going next year

retired_amyslack

Thanks Simon, but I have a feeling that Herr Bohl may prove to be a one-season wonder!

May 8th 2002 – Bayern Through To Champions League Final
A 1-1 draw in Milan was enough for FC Bayern to complete a 4-3 aggregate victory and book their place in the Champions League Final. An even game reached half time scoreless but Bayern midfield star Michael Ballack scored a crucial goal 10 minutes after the restart. Milan fought hard to get back into the game but the visitors held firm until stoppage time at the end of the game when Andriy Shevchenko equalised. But it was not enough for the home side and Bayern went through with a narrow overall win. However the victory was not obtained without some cost as key winger Alexander Zickler sustained a knee injury and it is touch and go whether he will be fit in time for the final. Bayern will face Real Madrid in the final as they beat Juventus 2-1 in Spain to also have a 4-3 aggregate win.


May 11th 2002 – Cup Final Drama For Bayern
FC Bayern won their 3rd Cup of a fantastic season when they defeated a battling Leverkusen side 2-1. The winning goal came from 18-year-old striker Leonhard Hass who was making only his 4th appearance for the senior side. Leverkusen inflicted a rare league defeat on Adolf Bohl’s team last month and were hoping to repeat that feat to lift the Cup. They got off to a good start when Oliver Neuville gave them the lead after 30 minutes of play but Sebastian Deisler, in for the injured Zickler, equalised just 5 minutes later. There was no further scoring in the first half as neither attack could penetrate two well-organised defences. With 20 minutes remaining Bayern suffered a blow when striker Claudio Pizarro came off injured to be replaced by teenager Haas. It was a dream come true for the youngster when he headed home a Zé Roberto corner with virtually his first touch of the ball to score what proved to be the winning goal. Pizarro looks likely to miss the Champions League final so it is possible that the teenager may have a place in the starting lineup in what would be the biggest game of his young life.