The German Leicester... how Kaiserslautern shocked the Bundesliga in 1998

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queenmap
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The German Leicester... how Kaiserslautern shocked the Bundesliga in 1998

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Interesting piece...


In recent months, Leicester's 5,000/1 Premier League title charge has drawn only a handful of parallels from English football's modern era.

Nottingham Forest's triumphs under Brian Clough in the late 70s and early 80s and, further back, Ipswich Town's successful first crack at the First Division under Alf Ramsey in 1962, are both obvious comparisons.

But just 18 years ago on the continent, a similar tale unfolded. The story of Kaiserslautern's 1997/98 Bundesliga win is one less told, but just as unprecedented.

Having risen from the second division under footballing miracle-worker Otto Rehhagel in 1997, Kaiserslautern became the only Bundesliga team to win the title after being promoted the previous season.

Their success was unthinkable given the mid-90s dominance of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, but Rehhagel's first of two major career turn-ups was a masterstroke.

Before leading Greece to a miraculous Euro 2004 crown six years later, Rehhagel turned German football on its head, giving players freedom on and off the pitch, and creating a team without superstars. Sound familiar?

Claudio Ranieri's buzzword throughout the season has been 'freedom'. Play with freedom, train with freedom, live with freedom - an alien concept to those of us who welcomed the supposed 'Tinkerman' back to the Premier League with widespread predictions of relegation.

Jose Mourinho won Chelsea's first title in 50 years in 2005 with a rigorous training schedule matched by a meticulous tactical approach. This was chalk and cheese to Ranieri's Blues side and his flexible approach the previous season, according to Damien Duff in Graham Hunter's Big Interview, but there are no textbooks to winning trophies.

Ranieri fell short of silverware during his three-and-a-half years at Stamford Bridge, but his current success, and Rehhagel's from years past, shows hands-off can be just as effective as hands-on.

For Kaiserslautern, the journey to May 1998 started with relegation. Dropping from the top flight in 1996 having won their first Bundesliga title just five years earlier, Rehhagel swiftly took the second tier by 10 points.

Andree Wagner, a Kaiserslautern fan who has studied Rehhagel's success closely, remembers the time well, and his description of their situation before and during the title success has uncanny similarities with Leicester's.

"Their relegation into the second division caused absolute agony around the team," he told Sky Sports. "Even insolvency was officially discussed.

"But the goal for the new season was merely: stay in the Bundesliga. The fans loved the team because it was a fantastic mix of players. Fans, team and coach became an absolute union."

It was apt that Kaiserslautern's opening game of the season would be at champions Bayern Munich. They won 1-0, but Rehhagel was quick to manage expectations and take the pressure off the players.


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