Bayern Munich v Norwich City
| Event | 1993–94 UEFA Cup, second round | ||||||
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| Date | 19 October 1993 | ||||||
| Venue | Olympiastadion, Munich | ||||||
| Referee | Leif Sundell (Sweden) | ||||||
| Attendance | 28,500 | ||||||
Bayern Munich vs Norwich City was a first leg match in the 1993–94 UEFA Cup second round, played on 19 October 1993. The match was won by Norwich City, who beat Bayern Munich 2–1.
The match, "an apparent mismatch", was a huge upset in European football; it has been described as "the pinnacle of Norwich City's history" and it was the only defeat ever inflicted by a British club on Bayern Munich in their Olympiastadion. That it was Norwich that inflicted the defeat was startling: Norwich were "mere babes at this level", and, according to Norwich player Jeremy Goss, "There's no doubt Bayern assumed it would be easy".
The second leg was played on 3 November 1993 and was drawn 1–1, meaning that Norwich won the tie 3–2 on aggregate. They went on to be defeated by eventual champions Internazionale in the third round.
This was Norwich City's only European campaign, achieved by virtue of finishing in third place in the inaugural Premier League season, their highest-ever league placing. The European campaign capped Norwich City's "great success in the early Nineties".
By contrast, Bayern were regular competitors in European competitions. The club had, at the time of the tie, won four European trophies, as well as 12 German titles, and a host of domestic cups. Moreover, Bayern were to go on to win the Bundesliga once again that season. Norwich's victory was, by the time that Bayern Munich moved to a new stadium, the only win at the Olympiastadion by any visiting team in UEFA club football.
Norwich striker Chris Sutton's father, Mike, recalls that pundits had predicted an overwhelming win for Bayern Munich: "I remember Alan McInally predicting that Bayern were going to win by about ten." The apparent mismatch between the sides led to an expectation of an overwhelming Munich victory. In The Times, columnist Martin Samuel summarised the situation: "The Germans had never lost at home to an English side and Norwich's expedition was regarded as little more than an exotic day out with a football match attached". This perception couldn't help but reach the players, which was to be significant. According to Norwich player, Jeremy Goss, before the match, "everyone around us was saying we would do well to keep it down to three or four nil". Both camps were to respond to this feeling, in a manner that has subsequently been viewed as contributory to the eventual result.
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