Unsere Lieblingstrikots: Tschüss Olli, Bonjour Franck!

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My favorite jersey is a bit complicated and potentially controversial depending both on your tastes and view of the season. The 2007/08 season was one of transition. It saw a lot of legends leave but some great players join the club as well. 

The Season

For me it was a year of hope. Yes we saw the likes of Mehmet Scholl, Roy Makaay, Claudio Pizarro, Hasan Salihamidžić and Owen Hargreaves leave, but we also brought in Franck Ribéry, Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose, and Zé Roberto as well as the promotion of Toni Kroos from the youth team.

This would also be the final season for both Ottmar Hitzfeld and Oliver Kahn, two individuals who brought a lot of success and trophies including the first European championship since 1976. 

On the field Bayern won the domestic double taking home the Meisterschale by a solid ten points with the newly acquired Ribéry leading the way. The Pokal Final against Dortmund would see them win their second bit of silverware following an extra-time thriller thanks to two Luca Toni goals. 

They would also make it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup having missed out on a Champions League place the prior season with a fourth place finish. However, they were unceremoniously dispatched by Zenit St. Petersburg in the second leg 4-0 after having drawn 1-1 at the Allianz.

The Trikot

Picking my favorite jersey even for this year though, was a very tough decision. I was very close to picking the goalkeeper jersey because Kahn was the first player I really loved at Bayern. His passion and personality drew me in and kept me captivated.

I will always remember his final season at Bayern in that jersey. Since it was the last one I regularly saw him in, it’s the one that I tend to remember the most although the 2001 jersey is right there with it. It’s also an interesting design for a goalkeeper jersey with the navy arms and powder blue body adorned with five offset light blue stripes going through the chest and down the abdomen.

In the end though I went with the candy cane home jersey from this season. The candy cane look has been tried a few times, but for me this is the most successful, at least in modern times. The vertical stripes of the 2010/11 season was a bit of a miss for me. The sleeves on that jersey had too much going on and the T-Mobile logo was ill-conceived. 

This one however was an almost perfect balance of introducing some different elements to change up an otherwise plain red top while staying true to Bayern’s classic color scheme. The sleeves are simple with the classic three white Adidas stripes down from the collar with a little white piping at the end of the sleeves. The body had just three large white stripes with a pinstripe on both the top and bottom edge of those larger stripes.

For me, this is the best alternative to a pure red jersey that Bayern has had and likely my favorite design for a jersey through the years. I know a lot of purists would prefer a solid red jersey and I can understand that, but I like when a jersey can add in interesting elements while still feeling true to the club and I thought this jersey achieved that beautifully. 

Firsts and Lasts

I have a lot of sentimentality for this kit as well because it was actually my first Bayern jersey. Being in the US it was not so easy to come by jerseys at that point, especially where I lived in the Midwest. However, by this time Bastian Schweinsteiger was rapidly becoming my next favorite Bayern player and when I had the opportunity to get this jersey I took it.

Years later, I would attend his Abschiedsspiel and this was the jersey I wore to that match. Before the match, I met up with some of my colleagues here at Miasanrot for the first time as well. Having the opportunity to finally meet in person with people I had only had the opportunity to talk with online was a wonderful experience. 

As for the match itself, I have been to several in the Allianz and am fond of them all, but the atmosphere that night was special. Yes the match ultimately meant nothing, but seeing your favorite player one final time in front of 70,000 supporters who are all there to see that one person was different and easily one of my most memorable sporting experiences.

While Kahn was the first player that I loved at Bayern, Basti was the second and in many ways the player I feel the most connected to. Having that experience to cap it off is why I ultimately chose this jersey over the keeper jersey but they both have a special place in my heart.