Two days before the anniversary of the legendary can-throwing game from the Bökelberg, Wolfgang Kleff and Rainer Bonhof looked back on this unforgettable moment on Monday – and provided the best entertainment with their memories and anecdotes.
The location for the event was appropriately chosen. Gladbach eyewitnesses and a good 100 Borussia fans came together in the “Büchsenwurf” room on the ground floor of Borussia Park to relive memories of this historic – and still hotly debated – event. Kleff and Bonhof were on the pitch for Borussia on that 20 October 1971, when the young Fohlenelf around playmaker Günter Netzer swept the star team from Inter Milan off the pitch 7:1 in a frenetic attacking spectacle in the first leg of the last 16 of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup.
The football intoxication was followed by a hangover: Out in the replay
The joy over this historic triumph lasted only a short time: Because Inter striker Roberto Boninsegna was allegedly hit on the head by a Coke can thrown from the spectator block and went down, UEFA later annulled the match and scheduled a replay. The bitter end for Gladbach: Borussia were eliminated from the competition after a 2:4 in Milan and a 0:0 in the replay in Berlin.
“That’s the great thing: now we’re all sitting here still talking about this game after 50 years. “
COACH BONHOF
Myth of the can throw. “That’s the great thing: now we’re all sitting here still talking about this game after 50 years,” Bonhof said at the stage talk, “and we’re talking about a Gladbach eleven that ‘torched’ the world-class team of Inter Milan 7:1 – today they would say.” A performance that surprised the Borussians themselves. “Before the game it was absolutely out of the question for us that we could beat this world club 7:1 or a similar high score,” said Kleff, revealing the simple-sounding recipe for success that led to Gladbach’s rush for goals. “Hennes Weisweiler just said before kick-off: play forward and score goals. “
The Inter stars thought Mönchengladbach was somewhere near Munich.
WOLFGANG KLEFF
One has agreed on the left bank of the Lower Rhine for five decades: The Inter stars had mightily underestimated the task at the then up-and-coming Fohlenelf. “The Inter stars thought Mönchengladbach was somewhere near Munich. They didn’t have Mönchengladbach on any map,” said Kleff. But that was the end of it after the rejection, according to Bonhof, who added with a grin: “That was the game of all games. After that evening, Europe-wide Mönchengladbach was pronounced accident-free. “
After the dressing room party – “We knew we were in for something “
But: There was no cabin party, as one might expect after such a triumph. When Boninsegna left the pitch on the stretcher after the alleged hit on the head (Bonhof: “Suddenly there was someone lying there.”), the Borussians suspected that this 28th minute of the game could have a nasty aftermath. And so it came to pass, UEFA annulled the match. “We already had a bad feeling during the game and even more so afterwards,” Kleff reported, referring to the Italians’ proximity to UEFA at the time. “We knew we were in for something. Milan will certainly make something of it after this 7-1 defeat, which was a dismantling of the great Inter Milan. And that’s how it happened.” Although Bonhof assured us once again on Monday: “There was nothing in the can. “
For Kleff, at any rate, it’s clear: “This game, this result, the whole circumstances of this evening at the Bökelberg mean that people will be talking about this game for a very long time to come.” Then, in typical Kleff style, the former goalkeeper ended the event with a light-hearted remark and once again caused laughter among the guests: “Hopefully we’ll meet here again for the 100th anniversary.