Bayern and HSV: Joined at the hip

Before the Bundesliga, these two clubs had little to do with each other. There aren’t two German cities much further separated than Hamburg and Munich, and so there was naturally never any football fixture scheduled between the two sides. However, since Bayern won promotion in 1965, the fixture has been played twice per season – and given that neither side has ever been relegated, FC Bayern München have faced Hamburger SV every season for the last 50 years, a Bundesliga record.

The previous record, held between HSV and Werder Bremen, was spoiled in the 1980/81 season when Werder were relegated. In contrast, Bayern and HSV seem to be inseparable, joined at the hip. For over 30 years, the fixture was the highlight of the Bundesliga calendar, and between 1979 and 1983 the German title was dominated by both teams. Back then, the clash between north and south captured the nation twice a year. Ahead of the 101st meeting of the Bundesliga stalwarts this Friday evening (20:30 CEST), DFB.de looks back at the long history of the fixture – a fixture that still holds great importance in German football, even if it hasn’t been the most hotly-contested in the last few years.

1965: A Bayern away win in the first Bundesliga meeting

The few meetings between the sides before their Bundesliga bow were of little importance – Bayern won both friendly matches played in 1926, but it was Hamburg who were victorious in the only pre-war competitive fixture. HSV ran out 8-2 winners in the semi-final for the 1928 German title, going on to lift the trophy.

We had to wait another 37 years to see the sides line up against each other in a competitive match – and this time, it was in the Bundesliga. The Reds had been part of the competition since its creation, whilst Bayern gained promotion to the German top flight two years later. Therefore, the Bavarian side weren’t necessarily favourites as they travelled to the Rothenbaum for the game on 22nd October 1965 – but they certainly played like they were. Bayern were 2-0 up inside 20 minutes thanks to goals from Rudolf Nazinger and Gerd Müller, who scored a whopping 26 goals against HSV in his career. With two more goals before half time, Bayern went into the break with a resounding 4-0 lead and were even applauded off by the home supporters. It was the first of many victories for Bayern over their soon-to-be arch-rivals – they have 59 Bundesliga wins to Hamburg’s 19. The Bavarian side even have more victories than HSV at Hamburg’s home ground – no other side has more wins at Hamburg than Bayern’s 22.

1967: Bayern win their only DFB Cup Final against HSV

The following season, HSV secured their first home win against Bayern to leapfrog them in the league – the Reds won 3-1 thanks to two quick-fire goals from Charly Dörfel which took the game away from their opponents. However, Bayern were able to exact revenge later on in the season, when they first won the reverse fixture 3-1 at home and then just two weeks later swept HSV aside with a 4-0 win in the final of the 1967 DFB Cup. 69,000 fans in Stuttgart were treated to a very open game – Gerd Müller opened the scoring in the 23rd minute and despite some great efforts by Hamburg’s goalkeeper Sepp Maier to keep Bayern from scoring more, two goals from Ohlhauser and another from Müller secured the trophy for Bayern.

Hamburg suffer in the 70s

This was the start of difficult times for HSV, and they had nothing to do with titles until the 1976 DFB Cup. FC Bayern, on the other hand, developed into a world-class team which laid the foundations for their current status as the most successful team in the Bundesliga. The head-to-head record between 1967 and 1974 also clearly reflects this: Bayern won twelve times, including ten in a row, drew once and only lost one time on 2nd March 1968 (2-1). Hamburg also lost their first nine visits to Munich, leading to the Münchener Merkur’s headline in 1971: "Hamburg are cannon fodder for Bayern".

In the time until 1974/75, HSV suffered greatly at the hands of Bayern. Highlights for the Bavarian side include a 5-1 thumping of HSV in August 1968 in Munich, with four goals from Müller, a 5-1 win in Hamburg in September 1970 when Franz “Bulle” Roth scored three and Sepp Maier even saved a penalty. There was even the 6-2 in Munich in March 1971, including three more goals for Müller, which is the fifth highest scoring fixture in Bundesliga history.

In October 1971, Gerd Müller scored a second-half hattrick and Maier again saved a penalty, this time against Peter Nogly. The return fixture was unusually dramatic when HSV turned over a 2-0 and 3-2 deficit, with Manfred Kaltz scoring from over 30 yards. Bayern only won the game 4-3 in injury time through a Roth free kick. The people of Hamburg were raging – manager Klaus Ochs said, “We were robbed this time.” Hamburg’s defender Willi Schulz, who was responsible for the penalty, said sardonically, “We were side by side, Gerd Müller and I. The ball bounced off Gerd’s chest and out of play. I went behind the goal and wanted to take the goal kick, and then I saw it: penalty.” Referee Kindervater wouldn’t be deterred afterwards: “According to Rule 12, pushing in the penalty area is punishable by the awarding of a penalty kick.”

1974: Bayern win without Müller scoring

It was just as one sided after that, with Bayern coming out on top in 1973/74: a 4-1 win in Munich was followed by a 5-0 win in Hamburg on 4th May 1974, which is to date HSV’s heaviest home defeat in the Bundesliga. Left back Paul Breitner scored twice, but the strange thing about this goal fest was that Gerd Müller didn’t actually score. He was quickly advised to shave off his large moustache, but “Bomber” was not superstitious: “That’s nonsense.” Uli Hoeneß scored his first Bundesliga penalty that day, and Kicker ran the headline: “Hoeneß now does everything”. HSV were able to console themselves with the fact that an attendance of 54,017 brought them their record revenue of 605,000 DM into the club’s coffers.

1974/75 was Bayern’s crisis year, when the threefold triumph of the Bundesliga, European Cup and World Cup brought a sense of saturation to the team’s stars, and HSV won both games 1-0 for the first time. A goal for Hans-Jürgen Sperlich in Munich ended a dark period in HSV’s history, and they took their first points in ten trips there. Strikingly, there was only one draw in the first twelve years of meeting between the two teams (2-2 in Hamburg in January 1969).

Gerd Müller and his favourite opposition

In May 1976 the semi-final finished 2-2 in Hamburg, bringing about a replay. In the return leg the scores stood at 0-0 after 90 minutes. Müller failed to score from the penalty spot against Rudi Kargus, then a certain Kurt Eigl shot HSV into the final, which they went on to win. Bayern took revenge as early as autumn 1976, scoring eight goals against Hamburg in Munich within two weeks. A 5-1 win in the cup followed a 6-2 victory in the league, in which Gerd Müller put four goals past his favourite opponents again.

After that, results like these were exceptional. HSV rose to power at the end of the seventies. Their 5-0 victory of 1st April 1977 is the biggest victory ever against Bayern. On the 9th of June 1979 they were the force behind incidents at the stadium which would unfortunately overshadow Hamburg’s first ever Bundesliga champion celebrations. The elated Hamburg fans surged forward and broke through a gate causing 71 injuries, leaving ambulances scattered throughout the Volksparkstadion. This dampened the celebrations more than the 2-1 loss.

"Duel of the giants" in the 80s

This began the year in which every game between Bayern and HSV was huge clash. In 1979/1980 HSV had the upper hand on Bayern according to the UEFA Cup, drawing 1-1 away and winning 3-1 at home, but Bayern were Bundesliga champions. In both matches in the 1980/1981 campaign their patience was tested, but for Bayern the wait was worth it. In Munich, 78,000 fans, some of whom had paid 150 Marks on the black market to see the game, celebrated as Klaus Augenthaler headed in to make it 2-1 just before the end.

For Kicker this was the "duel of the giants", with seven national players of the time on the pitch. The German coach Jupp Derwall did not allow himself to miss out. "It is certainly intelligent football. But is it what the spectators want to see?" was his commentary at half time. It was more often like a game of chess in those days. The giants at their best cancelled each other out so that extraordinary individual performances brought about the result. A headed goal scored with expert marksmanship from defender Klaus Augenthaler won the match.

1981: HSV suffer at hands of "Bayern gene"

In retrospect, the return game of the 1980/81 season decided the fate of the Bundesliga title. HSV were top of the table and led 2-0 in front of Chancellor Helmut Schmidt ("My heart beats for HSV") through goals from Felix Magath and Horst Hrubesch until the 67th minute. As the table stood, HSV were five points in front – which at the time was two wins and a draw. There were only nine games before the end of the season to catch up. But the game was turned on its head by Bayern’s starts of the era, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Paul Breitner. The equaliser came in the 89th minute as Breitner made up for his mistake which led to the second Hamburg goal. Hamburg showed frustration and self doubt, and Felix Magath said: "We aren’t yet clinical players."

At Fuhlsbüttel airport in Hamburg the reporters collected snappy words from the Bayern camp. "We hammered them" (Rummenigge). Or "We are ourselves again" (Coach Pal Csernai). Kicker wrote: "Bayern wouldn’t need an airplane after this game – they are floating above the clouds." It’s one of the games that can be used as a perfect example of the "Bayern gene" for younger people. HSV collapsed in any case and the Bundesliga shield went to Munich.

1982: HSV win 4-3 in Munich and become champions

It was the other way round in 1981/1982. Hamburg became champions in Ernst Happel’s first season in the dugout, and they did that by beating their rivals. On 24th April 1982 they came as leaders to the home of their chasers in Munich, where they had only ever won twice before. At half time Bayern were leading 2-1, but when keeper Uli Stein misjudged a harmless header from Dieter Hoeneß and it became 3-1 after 65 minutes, Bayern thought that they’d won. "We had the game wrapped up, but that meant that some people switched off before the end again," huffed Csernai.

What happened next? The young Thomas von Heesen was allowed to run the length of the pitch unopposed to reduce the deficit to 3-2. It was then time for a huge quarter of an hour from Germany international striker Horst Hrubesch, who equalised with his foot in the 75th minute before he put a header past Walter Junghans as the final whistle blew. It was Bayern’s first home defeat in 43 Bundesliga matches and the third 4-3 result in two weeks (including the European Cup) – and Rudi Carrell quipped in his show "Am laufenden Band" that "Bayern have a new phone number: 343434."

Pfaff saves Kaltz’s penalty in 1983

The title was gone, and they knew that on the final whistle. President Willi O. Hoffman congratulated Ernst Happel, who replied: "If we don’t win the league now, then we never will." They would win it, also again in 1983 which brought about the legendary game in Munich. It was 2-2 after 90 minutes, and goals from "Breitnigge" had cancelled again out a 2-0 lead when referee Walter Eschweiler gave HSV a penalty in the 90th minute.

Fans were flipping their lids in the Südkurve, flares were flying and there was a five minute interruption. Enough time to become nervous, and even a reliable scorer like Manfred Kaltz didn’t take the wait well. Jean-Marie Pfaff, who had been advised of Kaltz’s favourite corner by Paul Breitner, saved. "I don’t know when I last missed," said Kaltz frustrated. Kicker celebrated the game as a "festival of football".

Pralija's horror show at the Olympiastadion

Unfortunately this proved to be one of the last encounters with a cup-final feel, as HSV's glory years gradually came to an end after the 1983 European Cup win. Since then, they haven't managed a single title win, Bayern by comparison have been champions on average every other year. In March 1987 both clubs were once again on a level footing; however Bayern won the top-of-the-table clash at the Volkspark 2-1, courtesy of a poor throw by goalkeeper Stein that allowed Michael Rummenigge to score the winner with three minutes to spare.

A goalkeeper was once again centre of attention as the two sides met in summer 1987. During a 6-0 loss in Munich, the unfortunate Mladen Pralija made one error after another, leading to nationwide derision. It was Bayern's biggest ever win against HSV, who consequently largely fell away as competitive rivals. From 1985 to 1991, HSV failed to register a single win against Bayern in twelve consecutive matches, even when the games were very tight, as was the case on Sunday 5th May 1991.

It was the time of the first ever live Bundesliga match broadcasts, and this clash in the Volksparkstadion was worthy of the occasion. HSV led 2-1 up until the 87th minute, but late goals from Olaf Thon and Stefan Reuter meant that Bayern left with the victory. Hamburg fans will prefer to think back to 11th February 1996, when it went somewhat better for them. Otto Rehhagel's Bayern led until the 85th minute, until Andre Breitenreiter and Uwe Jähnig both found the net for HSV. The HSV manager at the time was none other than a certain Felix Magath. For 18 matches and nine years, it was the last Hamburg win in this fixture.

2001: Andersson fires Bayern to last-minute title victory

The first game after the winter break in the 1997/98 season is historically relevant, when Giovane Elber scored the fastest goal in Bundesliga history in a 3-0 home victory for Bayern. He took only eleven seconds after kickoff to beat goalkeeper Richard Golz, a record which stood until last season, when Leverkusen's Karim Bellarabi needed only nine seconds to score in Dortmund.

This, however, was nothing compared to the events of 19th May 2001, when Bayern came within a hair's breadth of throwing away the title in Hamburg's new stadium on the final day of the season. One point would have sufficed to secure the title for Bayern over rivals Schalke, but a 90th minute header from Sergej Barbarez put Hamburg 1-0 up. The Bayern players fell to the floor and those on the bench were left shocked. Only one player refused to give up – Oliver Kahn rallied the troops and shouted his legendary words. "Keep going, don't give up."

In the fifth minute of added time, with the title already being celebrated in Schalke, referee Markus Merk awarded Bayern an indirect free kick in the Hamburg penalty area for a backpass from Ujfalusi to goalkeeper Schober. Oliver Kahn came forward, wanting to shoot himself, but Steffan Effenberg took over, with Kahn jostling with the Hamburg players in the wall that had formed on the goal line. Not necessarily fair, but this was a matter of life or death. It was a signal to his teammates that he believed they could achieve a miracle. And so it happened: Effenberg knocked the ball to Patrick Andersson, who had never found the net for Bayern previously. The Swede managed to find a gap between the post and the defenders' legs, finding the back of the net and causing Kahn to tear out a corner flag in celebration. 1-1 – another draw in Hamburg that was in reality a victory for Bayern. "In Germany, this kind of drama is unique to Bayern," said Elber. Kahn put it more objectively: "You can make things happen how you want them. That's exactly the sort of character that's taken us to this title." Four days later, Bayern went on to win the Champions League.

Van der Vaart and Trochowski put an end to dark times for HSV

But HSV have really hurt Bayern on two more occasions since then. On 24th September 2005, goals from Rafael van der Vaart and Piotr Trochowski in Hamburg ended what was at the time the longest ever winning streak in Bundesliga history of 15 games, and in doing so they ended an awful run of 9 games against Bayern without a win. In the reverse fixture at Bayern, a late goal from Nigel de Jong inflicted the first ever defeat at the Allianz Arena on Bayern, and yet again, an Oliver Kahn rage followed. HSV were to go another four games unbeaten in Munich, until Franck Ribery ended the run, making Hamburg’s substitute goalkeeper Wolfgang Hesl look below average.

This was the start of another series of dark times for HSV, who lost in their following seven trips to FC Bayern. Most of these defeats were not even close; on 12th March 2011, Bayern’s 6-0 win marked the premature end of Armin Veh’s spell as HSV manager. His successor – Michael Oenning was on the receiving end of a 5-0 beating from Bayern only five months later.

9-2 and 8-0

Then came the legendary 30th March 2013, with ex-Bayern star Thorsten Fink now sitting on the HSV bench. His old club gave him nothing to shout about, after going 5-0 up in the first half – and the goal-hungry Bayern stars just couldn’t get enough in what was their treble-winning season. When Franck Ribery fired in the 9th for Bayern, making the score 9-1, the first double figured defeat for the Dinos looked a certainty. They were spared that humiliation, however, as HSV were the only team to score in the closing stages. Heiko Westermann scored the final goal, and the game finished 9-2. The Peruvian Claudio Pizarro scoring the most goals with four, Arjen Robben bagged a double, and the other three goals were courtesy of Xherdan Shaqiri, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ribery.

The older of the HSV-faithful had a déjà-vu moment. Back in 1964, their team was sent home from Munich by the same score line, that time however, by the Lions of 1860 Munich. The full time whistle was met by strong words from Westermann: "I’m ashamed of myself and of the team, it was diabolical. At least seven of their goals were complete gifts; we just gave them the ball. I’m sorry for the fans that travelled with us today, and I’m sorry for the club." The board, in their embarrassment, decided to appease the fans and arrange a barbecue for all the "victims" in April on that year’s Easter Saturday.

But for the time of year, the teams’ latest encounter in Munich would have called for similar occasion for HSV fans. On 14th February 2015, they took an even worse beating as Bayern once again slaughtered the Hamburg men under Joe Zinnbauer, this time the score was 8-0. To date, the worst ever Bundesliga defeat for Hamburg; and of all days for this record to fall on, this was the 100th encounter between the two Bundesliga giants. The goals were scored exclusively by attacking players, of which there was no shortage in Pep Guardiola’s squad. Thomas Müller, Mario Götze and Arjen Robben all scored twice, with Robert Lewandowski and Franck Ribery contributing a goal each. This made it all the more confusing as to why this Bayern team were only able to steal a point from Hamburg in a goalless draw in the reverse fixture earlier that season on Zinnbauer’s debut. It was the only one of the last six fixtures in which Bayern failed to win – most recently, the Bundesliga classic’s only appeal has been the expectation of lots of goals. Let’s wait and see if the fixture becomes exciting again.