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Liverpool had suffered under the Bosman ruling in 1999 when Steve
McManaman was spirited away to Real Madrid on a free transfer, but in
2000 Gerard Houllier used the rule to his advantage in signing
experienced defender Markus Babbel from Bayern Munich. Trophy-chasing
Liverpool would play 63 matches in Babbel's first season; the German
would miss just three, and started every league game. He made his debut
at Anfield on the opening day of the campaign, Emile Heskey striking the
only goal against Bradford City, and quickly established a rapport with
the fans due to his never-say-die attitude and constant attacking raids
down Liverpool's right flank. His first ever goal for club came in an
8-0 hammering of Stoke City at the Brittania Stadium in the League Cup,
Robbie Fowler grabbing a hat-trick in Liverpool's biggest ever away win.
February 2001 was a critical month, and a week after Markus had scored
Liverpool's final goal in a 4-2 FA Cup Fifth Round win over Manchester
City, he took his place in the Reds side that took on Birmingham City in
the League Cup Final in Cardiff. Fowler gave the Reds the lead, but
ultimately Babbel's first medal in England was won in a penalty
shootout.
The big games kept coming, and Markus scored the Reds' second
goal, from a thrilling counter attack, in a 3-2 derby win at Goodison
Park, a match famous for Gary McAllister's stunning late free kick
winner. Liverpool were flying now, and took on Arsenal in the FA Cup
Final in Cardiff, where Babbel played the entire 90 minutes as Michael
Owen's late strikes wrestled the trophy from the Gunners' grasp and gave
Liverpool a domestic cup double (see photo above, a happy Markus holding aloft the famous trophy).
Then it was Dortmund, and the chance to complete an unprecedented cup
treble against little-known Spaniards Alaves in the UEFA Cup. The
experts, including Johan Cruyff, whose son Jordi was in the Alaves side,
had predicted a boring, stale encounter, but that went out of the
window once Markus opened the scoring in the fourth minute, heading in a
McAllister free kick. What followed was once of the greatest European
Finals of all time, which looked to be going Liverpool's way when Fowler
scored late on, but a last gasp header from Cruyff Junior tied the
score at 4-4. Alaves had two players sent off in extra time, one of
them, Magno, for a crude tackle on Babbel, before a late own goal, a
golden goal, from the luckless Delfi Geli handed Liverpool the trophy.
A
win at Charlton on the final day of the campaign ensured Champions
League qualification, but Markus was to miss out on playing in Europe's
premier competition for the Reds. He started the 2001/02 season in the
team, and played in the European Super Cup win over former club Bayern
in Monaco, before, complaining of tiredness, he was withdrawn at
half-time in a match at Bolton's Reebok Stadium in late August. He would
not play again for 15 months. He had contracted a life-threatening
illness known as Guillan-Barre Syndrome. The disease ate away at
Babbel's immune system, rendering him unable to walk and having to spend
months in a wheelchair. However, given his natural fitness Markus was
able to recover, and was back challenging for a place in Gerard
Houllier's team in the 2002/03 season.
Understandably though, he was
never able to reproduce his best form, and the likes of Jamie Carragher,
Abel Xavier and latterly Steve Finnan all overtook him in Houllier's
plans. He spent the 2003/04 season on loan at Blackburn, where he at
least got back to regular action, playing 25 times in the league, but
Rovers didn't make his move permanent, and Markus moved back to Germany,
with a free transfer to Stuttgart in June 2004, no doubt wondering what
would have been if it wasn't for his illness. (Mark Jones)
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