The Cup final was almost a step back into the 1970s – Bayern vs Borussia Moenchnegladbach. There was more: so far, both teams were unbeaten at cup finals. Bayern played 6 times and won all, Borussia – twice, both times the winner. This time there was no way out – one team will finish with broken record. So much at stake. And it was so hard to break records… the final ended 1-1 after overtime. The rivals remained without a cup final loss… the penalty shoot-out went equal as well for a long time.
Bayern eventually won – 7-6. Huge drama.
It was not just cute, but also symbolic to see the Rummenigge brothers holding the Cup – it was like Karl-Heinz, the aging superstar going to play in Italy giving the reigns to the up and coming youngster. To a point, the picture suggests that Bayern was not going to repeat the mistake they made after 1975, when they kept the old greats way too long: the change was coming, right after the end of the season, winners or no winners – bye-bye, Karl-Heinz, Micheal will be the new king. The next generation.
One could and should sympathize with and feel sorry for Borussia – losing two championship without really losing, coming so close and suffering more from bad luck than anything, but they lost. Unfortunately.
Bayern won its 7th Cup and now were the only team never losing a final. True masters. It could have been to win the championship, but after all they at least finished with a trophy – Borussia and Hamburger SV were empty-handed. It was good to see K-H Rummenigge win just before going to play in Italy. It was good to see the East German defector Nachtweih winning in West Germany. It was good to see Durnberger still winning, as he did during his whole career – the gritty underdog somehow always ending with a trophy. It was good to see Michael Rummenigge winning – the next generation was going to be winners too. And there were warning signs as well – Grobe and Martin, the weak points in the team. May be that was why they barely prevailed over Borussia and lost the championship? Reinforce. But it was for the next months – presently, there was Cup in their hands.