Schuster, the sweeper
But let’s take a look further back: When Erich Ribbeck returned to the dugout at Bayer 04 in April 1995 for the second stint as coach after 1985-1988, one of his first decisions was to play 35-year-old Bernd Schuster as the sweeper in the UEFA Cup semi-final second leg away to AC Parma. His decision was completely incomprehensible for many people. And although the coach did not take it on his own he was the one to carry the can in the end. Ribbeck tried to continue with this experiment in the final matches in the 1994/95 campaign and at the start of the following season. But the Werkself had serious problems in defence in the home game against FC St. Pauli on matchday 4 that ended in a 1-1 draw. So Erich Ribbeck declared his experiment was over two days before the away game in Stuttgart and he told the press that Bernd Schuster would be on the bench on Saturday.
trouble with the super star
That marked the start of a smouldering conflagration between the super star, the coach and the club. The midfielder remained calm, he came off the bench in the second half at Stuttgart with the scores level at 1-1, and he often played up to the winter break. But Bernd Schuster was banned from training with the team from January 1996. Nevertheless, he regularly came to training and did his runs along the Dhünn. An unsatisfactory solution for everybody involved that finally ended in March 1996 with the cancellation of Bernd Schuster’s contract.
Back to the match at VfB Stuttgart. It is 9 September 1995 and Bayer 04 have the following line-up: Dirk Heinen – Christian Wörns, Holger Fach, Markus Münch, Rodrigo, Hans-Peter Lehnhoff, Ioan Lupescu, Paulo Sergio, Mario Tolkmitt, Ulf Kirsten, Rudi Völler
Bayer 04 are kept very busy defending in the first half. But the Werkself secure a hard-earned 0-0 scoreline at half-time because VfB fail to take their chances. Bayer 04 go behind on 47 minutes but Rudi Völler levels eight minutes later. The Black and Reds get a grip on the game and win 4-1 in the end thanks to two more goals from Ulf Kirsten and a strike from the Brazilian substitute Ramon Hubner to pick up three valuable points on the road.
