Johan Cruijff’s Farewell Match: Ajax Amsterdam 0-8 Bayern Munich

By: Jan | December 12th, 2007

Barcelona will host Stuttgart tonight in their last Champions League group match. Both teams have nothing to play for. Both manager’s decided to shuffle their squads. And Barcelona’s assistant manager Johann Nesken’s is now facing the difficult task to motivate his players for the game. He figured a painful memory with one particular German team might to do the trick:

We’ll take it very seriously. There were no friendlies for the Germans. I played a friendly for Ajax once in the Johan Cruyff tribute match against Bayern Munich, and they beat us 8-0.

It was back in 1978 to be precise. Johan Cruijff had decided to leave Ajax Amsterdam to play for FC Barcelona. It suggested itself that this match should ideally take place between those two clubs. Unfortunately Barcelona weren’t available and so Ajax asked their perennial European rivals Bayern Munich instead. An exhibition match between the two prevalent European clubs of the seventies must have sounded like a great idea for some people.

Franz Beckenbauer was already enjoying his New York Cosmos adventure by that time. He is on record as saying that something like that would have never happened, had he been still at the club. “I played against him (Cruijff),” remembered Martin Jol (the ex-Tottenham Martin Jol). “We beat them 8-0. I felt ashamed because it was him and I was playing for the Germans. It was awful. He ran off the pitch because he was so disappointed and I felt like crying for him, although I have his shirt from that game.”

Apparently Ajax did everything to make their second choice feel like second choice. They didn’t care to pick the team up at the airport, the hotel they chose was a dump and the reception by the crowd at Amsterdam’s Olympic Stadium was less than welcoming; to put it mildly. The senior player’s on the squad led by Paul Breitner decided they wouldn’t take this and play for real. And that they did. A few years back Bayern’s chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge - who scored three of the eight goals - issued an official apology on his club’s behalf. Though it probably was more a political than a heartfelt one.

Here’s a news report from Dutch TV on this match. Though they spend most of the time remembering Cruijff’s achievements and only show little of the match for some reason.