Bayer champions? Not with Kölle! Matchday 33 of the 1996/97 season gave FC the chance to lift their fans’ mood at the end of a mediocre campaign.
They did just that: with a 4-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen, coached by ex-FC manager Christoph Daum, they handed the title early to bitterly disliked Bayern Munich, who were winning simultaneously. Toni Polster scored a hat-trick. In 2011, Köln also shattered Leverkusen’s title hopes again with a 2-0 home win and in the process helped Jürgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund to their first championship.