From matchday 29, Schalke 04 were top of the table in the 2000/01 season, ahead of FC Bayern. Before the penultimate matchday, Bayern and Schalke were level on points, with a better goal difference for the Schalke side. In the 90th minute, two goals fell almost simultaneously.
For FC Bayern, Alexander Zickler scored to make it a 2-1 home win over 1. FC Kaiserslautern; seven seconds earlier, Krassimir Balakov had scored the 1-0 winner for VfB Stuttgart against Schalke. Now FC Bayern were top again, three points clear of Schalke 04 before the final matchday.
Bayern needed at least a draw at Hamburger SV if Schalke were to win. Schalke duly won their final match against Unterhaching, while Bayern drew against HSV and became German champions.
The finale was far more dramatic than it sounds: Schalke trailed 0-2 and 2-3 but eventually won 5-3. Markus Merk refereed the HSV-Bayern match.
A Schalke loanee stood in Hamburg's goal: Matthias Schober. HSV scored in the 90th minute through Sergej Barbarez to lead 1-0. In the fourth minute of injury time, FCB were awarded an indirect free kick in the HSV penalty area. Schober had illegally handled a back-pass.
The HSV wall stood on the line; there was really no gap. Patrick Andersson found one nonetheless and scored his only competitive goal for FC Bayern. Munich were German champions once more.
This time, the architect of the hat-trick was Ottmar Hitzfeld, in charge since 1998 and championship-winning coach every year.
