The 1980s belonged to Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Lothar Matthäus and a run of league titles. Europe was crueller: Bayern lost the 1982 European Cup final to Aston Villa and the 1987 final to Porto after leading. Off the pitch, the tabloid nickname FC Hollywood stuck through the 1990s, when public arguments between players, coaches and directors were reported as diligently as the results.
The steadying figures were administrative. Uli Hoeneß, general manager from 1979 at the age of 27, turned a club with modest finances into the wealthiest in Germany; Franz Beckenbauer returned as coach and then president. The trophy that broke a European drought was the 1996 UEFA Cup, won over two legs against Bordeaux.
This is also the period in which Bayern became the club other German fans defined themselves against — a role the club has never entirely minded.