In the early 1990s, the record champions went through turbulent times. Numerous coaches, including Erich Ribbeck and Sören Lerby, tried with little success to revitalise the team. The period after Jupp Heynckes' dismissal in October 1991 was a phase of failure.
Bayern were no longer at the cutting edge, either tactically or in terms of personnel — in Europe and in Germany. Defeats rained down, and early exits from European competitions against mediocre opponents became not the exception but, for a time, the norm. Briefly, it seemed as if FC Bayern might become an average Bundesliga club.
And the Munich side didn't exactly have vast sums in the bank at the time, either. The worst season of this period was 1991/92. On 8 October 1991, Heynckes had to vacate his seat on the bench after a poor start to the season.
His promise, made on Munich's town hall balcony in 1990, that he would win the European Cup with Bayern, and his somewhat overly intense manner at the time, proved his undoing. Even the previous season had yielded "only" the runners-up spot. On top of that, they had been humiliated to the bone in the DFB-Pokal by the amateurs of FC Weinheim and had been eliminated from the European Cup by Red Star Belgrade. The new campaign turned into a total disaster for FC Bayern.
After another cup exit at their own stadium against second-division FC Homburg and a 1-4 home mauling on matchday 12 by Stuttgarter Kickers, manager Uli Hoeneß could no longer stand by his friend Heynckes. Captain Klaus Augenthaler had retired before the season; key players Jürgen Kohler and Stefan Reuter had emigrated to Italy. Goalkeeper Raimond Aumann and his deputy Sven Scheuer were sidelined long-term through injury.
With a miserable 36:40 points, Bayern finished the season in 10th place. To this day, Hoeneß considers the sacking of Heynckes the biggest mistake of his managerial career.