'How could we possibly have a chance against the high and mighty Bayern?'
"I still remember it very clearly."
Klopp smiled as he looked at Wang Shuo. "It was December 22, 1999. Back then, Bayern still played at the Munich Olympic Stadium—the open-air one. Allianz Arena hadn't been built yet."
"The head coach of Mainz at the time was my mentor, Wolfgang Frank, and the match was a DFB-Pokal quarterfinal."
"I was on that team, playing right-back. So were Kramny, and Neustadter, who played center-back."
"Buvac had already left Mainz by then."
"The fact that us old-timers are still around tells you something. We had a pretty old team back then, with an average age of 28, and we got thrashed 3-0 by Bayern in an away game."
"We conceded the first goal very early on—an own goal scored by our left-back, Herzberg. It was forced by Bayern's Babel."
"After that, Yangkel got a goal and an assist, and St. Cruz scored as well."
