Bernd Schuster's all-time hat-trick

Bernd Schuster scored the Goal of the Month three times in 1994. And in the vote for the Goal of the Year he took the first three places. Nobody else has achieved that before or after him. Today Bernd Schuster celebrates his 65th birthday. We take that occasion to not only look back at his wonder goals but also review his special story at Bayer 04.

His passes often proved to be an incredible surprise to the spectators in the stands. They shook their heads. Smiled. Applauded. Nudged the person next to them: "Did you see that?" Or they just mumbled something like "madness" or "unbelievable." Who else hit balls over 40, 50, 60 metres that went further and further? And then landed at the feet of the teammates even if they were closely marked. Such a great touch, such vision, such perfect timing – only Bernd Schuster had that.

When Bayer 04 signed the 33-year-old in the early summer of 1993, a lot of people only came to the Ulrich Haberland Stadium because of him. Schuster brought brilliance and glamour to Leverkusen. He was the first world star under the Cross, had thirteen successful years behind him in Spain playing for Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. He won the Spanish league title three times, the Spanish cup competition six times and the European Cup Winners Cup once. At Barca, the "blond angel" played alongside Diego Maradona for two years and shared a room with him. Another teammate of Schuster's at Barcelona was a certain Periko Alonso – the father of Bayer 04 coach Xabi Alonso.

THE Star in THE CIRCUS RING

Schuster was considered to be a diva and an eccentric. But also as a brilliant football player who it was a pure joy to watch. The fans streamed into the stadium on Bismarck Strasser like never before. An average of 17,300 spectators came in the 1993/94 season – a new record. With Schuster and the new coach Dragoslav Stepanovic on board, club boss Reiner Calmund wanted to provide a much quoted circus atmosphere in grey Leverkusen. But Schuster was the main attraction. The star in the circus ring. Football fans made the pilgrimage to the stadium to celebrate him. For his passes, his goals, his charisma. Yes, he may have lost some of his pace and freshness, which were never his greatest strengths. Nevertheless, he was often the player with the most touches of the ball. And the man for magic moments.

 

Even though tiki-taka play had not been invented, the Schuster style looked ahead of its time back then. But that didn't make any difference. As long as the maestro provided the highlights with his genius and did a good job playing alongside his orchestra and letting them shine. "Bernd Schuster isn't here to tackle," Stepanovic made clear to the team. The special rights and privilege for the returnee from Spain did not please everybody in the squad. Nevertheless, it worked out with 'Don Bernardo' and Bayer.

Kahn and Köpke with no chance

The club wanted to see him produce something spectacular. And Schuster delivered the spectacular. Not just with his perfect passes. In 1994 he achieved the feat of scoring the Goal of the Month three times. And in the vote for Goal of the Year these three strikes finished in places one, two and three. No other player has achieved that before or since. A quick review: In the Goal of the Month for April Schuster volleyed a cross from Paulo Sergio into the back of the net for the final score of 3-1 against Karlsruher SC. Oliver Kahn was in goal for KSC back then. "I received the ball on the edge of the box and hit it so well that I knew straightaway it was in," recalls the goalscorer many years later in discussion with the journalist Raimund Hinko. The goal was second in the vote for Goal of the Year.

The viewers of the ARD Sportschau voted the opener scored by Schuster on 28 August 1994 in the 4-0 win against Eintracht Frankfurt on 16 minutes from 46 metres out in top spot. It looked so easy. And it clearly was too. At least for Schuster: "I just had to hit the ball over Andreas Köpke. He was taken by surprise as he was standing well off his line and didn't think I would shoot at goal from the halfway line." That match against Eintracht is remembered by many Bayer fans for a second reason as well: Rudi Völler made his debut for the Werkself. He scored the final goal at 4-0 with a header shortly after coming off the bench. Schuster's goal was not only voted Goal of the Year but also later as Goal of the Decade.

That just leaves Goal of the Month number three, scored just over 30 years ago on 6 December 1994, in the 4-0 victory against GKS Katowice in the UEFA Cup Round of 16. Schuster again scored the opener this time from a free kick near the touchline, ten metres from the corner flag on the left, which he hit with swerve and power under the bar into the top corner at the far post. "I have to admit I didn’t plan it 100%," said Schuster. "The ball should have been lower for a teammate to get his head on it."

PUGNACIOUS And introvertED

The third Schuster year at Bayer 04 did not go to plan. The pugnacious, introverted maestro was always first on the team list under 'Stepi'. The coach really liked his playmaker and also played him when his pass completion rate was less than impressive. That happened. In a match against FC Nürnberg, Schuster, who played 120 passes per game, did not find one of his own teammates for 80 minutes. But Stepanovic did not take him off. Schuster thanked the coach by laying on the two goals for Paulo Sergio and Andreas Thom in the closing stages of the game where Bayer hit back to win 3-2. When Stepi confronted his star at the next training session about his weaker 80 minutes, Schuster answered: "If I play 100 misplaced passes then I'll play the 101st, 102nd and 103rd in exactly the same way. That's the difference between me and the other players. So never substitute me." Dragoslav Stepanovic recalled that in his autobiography 'Lebbe geht weider.'

Schuster, the reticent loner, was no friend of barbecues with teammates. And untouchable for the fans. After training he quickly returned to his property in Kürten in Bergisches Land where he lived with his wife Gabi and their four children. And nevertheless: The big recluse, who didn't want to have anything to do with anybody outside his family, was not Bernd Schuster either. "It was stirring the way he looked after a lot of young players and, for example, he helped our new Brazilian Paulo Sergio settle in like a younger brother," wrote Reiner Calmund in his autobiography ‘fußballbekloppt!’ (Football crazy). The former Bayer 04 boss had something special in store for Schuster. Calmund wanted to turn the player into a coach at the end of his playing career. "And here with us. For me there was no question about it. Only the timing." But it did not happen.

final performance in the provinces

The beginning of the end in the relationship between Bayer 04 and Bernd Schuster came in the second leg in the UEFA Cup semi-final against Parma in April 1995. After a 2-1 defeat in the first leg, Bayer parted company with coach Dragoslav Stepanovic. Erich Ribbeck, who led the club to win the competition seven years earlier, took over as manager. And he played Schuster as a sweeper in the second leg. The experiment went terribly wrong. Bayer lost 3-0 at Parma and did not stand a chance. Schuster looked relatively old trying to keep pace with the fast strikers Faustino Asprilla and Gianfranco Zola. The Bayer fans were angry – with Erich Ribbeck. How could he play Schuster, such a talented artist with the ball, in a position like that? What the supporters could not have known: The player had wanted to play in that position for a long time. "Ribbeck did nothing other than fulfil Bernd's wish – unfortunately too early, under poor circumstances and without having really discussed the issue beforehand," recalled Calmund in his memoirs. The relationship between Ribbeck and Schuster was definitely not good from the start. The situation escalated when the coach increasingly put his midfielder on the bench.

Schuster played the last of 86 games for Bayer 04 on 31 October 1995 in the DFB Pokal quarter-finals. Leverkusen were fortunate to beat the amateur players of FSV Lok Altmark Stendal 5-4 on penalties. Schuster converted his penalty after 120 minutes without a goal at the Stadion am Hölzchen. He was suspended by his club a few days later. That was followed by a legal dispute. That obviously created a bad mood at the club and the sporting situation headed for disaster. "The dream of the blond angel almost ended for us in hell, unfortunately, unfortunately," wrote Calmund looking back at the 1995/96 season where Bayer 04 were almost relegated.

"actually a great time"

And Schuster? How did he see the whole thing? "I was obstinate, I wanted to stay," as revealed in Calmund's autobiography. "I saw my place at this club, I wanted to be the coach after my playing career but the end determined my career on the pitch. And I knew they put everything down to me. In the end it all went out of control and I left Bayer actually after a great time." Back then he was sorry that the club got into a relegation battle. When it got tight, Ribbeck was no longer coach and Schuster saw on television how Calmund's carotid artery was suddenly beating out of control after the 3-0 defeat at Uerdingen, he phoned the boss in worried mood. He was convinced he could help the team in the battle against relegation. He was immediately available if his services were required. Calmund refused. "Reluctantly, but I feared additional trouble which would not have helped our team that was already unsettled."

Perhaps a happy ending with Bernd Schuster would have been too corny. But his time under the Cross was a great story.