Trapattoni's fatal mistake in Frankfurt | OneFootball

Even maestros aren't immune to slipping up – that was proven in April 1995, almost 30 years ago, in FC Bayern's meeting at Eintracht Frankfurt. On Matchday 26 of the Bundesliga, the Munich men actually won deservedly 5-2 at Frankfurt's Waldstadion, but the victory on the pitch was later turned into a defeat in the offices. That's because FCB coach Giovanni Trapattoni made a mix-up...

A disastrous substitution

The Bavarians, who travelled to Frankurt with major personnal concerns, initially battled well. After the hosts took a 2-1 lead, the German record champions showed character and turned the game around thanks to goals from Marcel Witeczek (45'), Christian Ziege (48', 83') and Dieter Frey (80'). The performance was even more impressive given that the visitors were missing a number of key players because of injuries. The youngsters, so-called 'contract amateurs', who were also eligible to play for FCB's second team, stepped into the breach – and it was they of all people who proved to be Trapattoni's undoing.

Samuel Kuffour celebrated with the fans at full time - but there was a nasty surprise to come.

With about a quarter of an hour left, the Italian brought on a young Dietmar Hamann for Thomas Helmer. There was now a fourth contract amateur on the pitch after goalkeeper Sven Scheuer, Samuel Kuffour and Marco Grimm, but only three were permitted – and the comeback ultimately proved to be in vain. "You can't blame Trapattoni," explained Hamann later. "I don't think he was aware of the difference between contract players and contract amateurs. My misfortune was that I was the fourth contract amateur. Obviously I didn't realise that, and unfortunately nobody on the bench did either."

Hoeneß: 'It's certainly embarrassing'

But as everyone knows, ignorance is no defence. The Eintracht management submitted an appeal and the match was later scored as a 2-0 win for the Hessians. Trapattoni, ever the gentleman, held his hands up for the mistake, although Uli Hoeneß defended his coach. "It's a human error," said the then general manager after the game. "It's also my fault and that of Klaus Augenthaler [assistant coach]. It's certainly embarrassing."

Markus Babbel and Co ultimately fought in vain in Frankfurt. Eintracht later officially won 2-0.

Especially as it didn't need to come to that: with special permission, Bayern would've been allowed a fourth contract amateur in the team. In fact, the club had applied to the German Football Association (DFB) for this on the previous matchday, but not for the meeting in Frankfurt, as then managing director Karl Hopfner subsequently admitted. The substitution error was in keeping with a failure of a season, which Bayern finished in sixth place – even with a win in Frankfurt, they would've been a long way off the title defence.

Bayern meet Frankfurt again on Sunday – here are the facts:

The facts ahead of Bayern vs. Eintracht Frankfurt