Weidenfeller saves penalty, BVB legends in special kit draw with Benfica | OneFootball

The replay of BVB’s “Game of the Century” did not bring the hosts a spectacular 5–0 victory like it did back then, in December 1963. In the European Cup, they had produced that win against European top side Benfica Lisbon, a historic success for Borussia. As they did back then, they also played on Wednesday at Stadion Rote Erde, although this time Benfica’s former stars could not be beaten.

The occasion for this clash of legends from BVB and those of Portuguese record champions Benfica Lisbon was not an anniversary of the match from 63 years ago. Rather, it was the 100th birthday of Stadion Rote Erde, which had been inaugurated in 1936. This event is also the theme of BVB’s new special jersey, which the legends also wore on Wednesday when they walked into Stadion Rote Erde, led by captain Roman Weidenfeller and coached by stadium announcer Norbert Dickel. However, Dickel had to do without Mats Hummels at short notice, as he was out sick.

Weidenfeller, now already 45 years old himself, then also got the chance in the match to show that he is still agile and has not lost his touch. After a handball by Dedé, the visitors were awarded a penalty. Weidenfeller saved it, though, and thus kept it 0–0 until halftime, after Jörg Heinrich had previously had to clear one off the line for him.

Photo by Vladimir Rys/Bongarts/Getty Images

First Weidenfeller captained the BVB legends, then Jan Koller

Among the 7,500 spectators at Stadion Rote Erde was Borussia’s entire leadership team, who shortly after the break witnessed BVB fall behind. Javier Saviola scored to make it 1–0 for Benfica Lisbon. By then, the now-beaten Weidenfeller had already passed the captain’s armband on to Jan Koller. And under Koller, BVB also created several chances to equalize. For a long time, the ball simply would not go in, with Nelson Valdez missing probably the biggest chance in the 79th minute.

Before BVB finally did manage to get the equalizer. Because, just as they had earlier for Benfica, the referee also awarded BVB a penalty, which Mohamed Zidan converted shortly before the end. So it finished 1–1 in the replay of BVB’s “Game of the Century,” which is unlikely to remain a talking point for long.

Earlier, Roman Weidenfeller had also spoken about the recent changes at Borussia Dortmund’s executive level. In doing so, he came to the defense of former sporting director Sebastian Kehl, who has been ex-sporting director since Sunday and with whom Weidenfeller played at BVB from 2002 to 2013.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.