When the police escorted a football goal into the stadium

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If nearly 13 million TV viewers tune in for kick-off and then only six million watch the football game, something historic must have happened. And that is exactly what happened on April 1, 1998 at the legendary Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. He will not forget this day “for the rest of his life”, Stéphane Chapuisat said in 2013 in the Sunday Blick. The former Swiss star striker was on the pitch 25 years ago when Madrid scored the legendary goal.

The first goal came at 8:43 p.m

April 1, 1998 was a Wednesday. At the time, Real Madrid and defending champion Borussia Dortmund (with Chapuisat) dueled in front of 85,000 fans in the semi-finals of the Champions League first leg. There was no VAR back then. And obviously no viable replacement target in the immediate vicinity. But already hot-blooded supporters. Real fans raged and ate at the protective fence behind one of the two goals. The latticework fell over – of course, so did the fence attached to it – and broke. Now those responsible had a problem. And a lot of pressure. It was 8:43 PM. The match was scheduled to start at 8:45 p.m.

Referee Mario van der Ende sent the players back to the cabins. Chapuisat: «We had to smile in the cloakroom. But over time we stopped laughing. First it was said it would start in 15 minutes, then in 20, then in 30 and so on. I’ve never seen anything like it before or since.” There was powerlessness in the square. Until finally someone scored a substitute goal from Real’s training ground. As time was of the essence, we went back to the Bernabéu with a blue light police Van der Ende kicked off the game 76 minutes late, with goals from Fernando Morientes and Christian Karembeu winning Madrid 2-0.

One port was too small

Defeated Dortmund (they were later eliminated after the goalless second leg) did not want to accept the defeat. The then media director Josef Schneck and BVB organization leader Christian Hockenjos went back to the Bernabéu that evening, equipped with a borrowed measuring tape. “We pretended to be UEFA employees and said that we had to measure the mass of the goals. The new gate was the right size. Strangely enough, the other one was not high enough. But logically nobody was interested in that,” said Schneck against CBP in 2018. Real scored a goal in each half.

Günther Jauch (moderator) and Marcel Reif (commentator) also contributed to the legendary April 1, 1998 in the German-speaking TV world. “It was an evening full of anarchy. Champions League matches are planned to the last second, such chaos just didn’t seem possible. And the situation was also very distasteful for the broadcaster. For example, nobody knew whether advertising could be shown.” , Reif revealed to “Welt” in 2008. That is why RTL remained on the air continuously. Jauch and Reif delivered verdicts for eternity during the bridging. “For everyone who didn’t turn on in time – the first goal has already been scored,” joked Jauch. “Never before would a goal have done a game so well,” Reif joked. In 1998, the duo received the Bavarian Television Award for this spontaneous performance. (yup)

Source : Blick