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The Bavarians play in Freiburg with twelve players – this change mistake occupies the Bundesliga. Mishaps like this have happened before, sometimes with dire consequences.
FC Bayern’s strange change mistake is by no means the first mishap of this kind in German professional football. 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 match day, 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:
Too many foreign players used
Hennes Weisweiler war 1977 the first coach to make a 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.
1992 changed Stuttgarts Christopher Daum in the Champions League at Leeds United (3:0/1:4) the Yugoslavian defender Jovica Simanic. 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’s coach Horst Heese 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.
Bayern Munich’s cult coach Giovanni Trapattoni sent 1994/95 at Eintracht Frankfurt the later national player Dietmar Hamann as the fourth contract amateur on the lawn. Only three were allowed. FC Bayern won the match 5-2, but the points went to Frankfurt.
1996 lost Karlsruhe’s coach Winfried Schaefer the overview. Russia’s Sergey Kiryakov came on as a substitute and fourth foreigner against Bayer 04 Leverkusen. Even the stadium announcer joked at the time: “Winni, count your foreigners”. But since KSC lost 1:4 anyway, the result was not annulled.
No protest, no repercussions
In the last Bundesliga game of the season 1995/96 griff Klaus Augenthaler, who was sitting on the FC Bayern Munich bench for interim coach Franz Beckenbauer, next to him. He made a fourth change against Fortuna Düsseldorf – one too many. However, Düsseldorf did not lodge a protest, the 2:2 was counted.
master coach Otto Rehhagel changed in the game of 1. FC Kaiserslautern against VfL Bochum 1998/99 after an injury to the Dane Michael Schjönberg then Pascal Ojigwe. The problem: There were already three non-Europeans on the lawn. After that, FCK held back, so Bochum still won 3:2 and refrained from protesting.
2004 VfL Wolfsburg had already lost their first round game in the DFB Cup at 1. FC Köln II (3-0) with the kick-off. Coach Erik Gerets lined up the red-blocked entry Marian Hristov. “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 was hit again at the beginning of the season 2021/2022. Coach changed in the cup game at Preußen Münster van Bommel six players. 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.
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