Before the home opener against Brugge: Sturm's most legendary home games in the Champions League

It was March 7, 2001: SK Sturm played their last home Champions League match to date. Valencia FC was a guest of Libenau in the second round and the Spaniards won clearly with a score of 5-0. On Wednesday, it's time again and Graz will be competing in the first division in front of their home crowd. FC Brugge will play at Klagenfurt Wörthersee at 9pm and around 25,000 tickets have been sold. We look at Styria's historic home matches in the Champions League.

In their first year in Europe's biggest tournament, the Black and Whites have also paid their dues in home matches. They lost 2-0 to Spartak Moscow and Inter Milan, and lost 5-1 to Real Madrid after leading 1-0.

“Beckham played provocatively.”

In the second year of the top flight, Sturm met Manchester United, Marseille and Croatia Zagreb in the group. The first home match was a duel with United, which they lost 3-0. The duel between Roman Mahlić and David Beckham was particularly unforgettable.

First win in the first division

In the second match at home, the Croatian national team lost Zagreb (now Dinamo Zagreb) with a score of 1-0. Of all people, it was Croatian-born Tomislav Kosjan who delivered SK Sturm's first Champions League win.

Kocijan Festival again

Tomislav Kosijan also played a key role in the second home win in the club's history at the Party of the Greats. The Graz team beat Marseille 3-2, with the striker scoring two goals and Roman Malich also scoring a goal.

It's clear

The 2000/2001 season was Sturm's most successful in the Champions League. In a group that included Galatasaray Istanbul, Glasgow Rangers and Monaco, the Graz side emerged as group winners despite being beaten 5-0 away from home and promoted to the second round. In front of the “Party” the fans lived a festive storm: goals to be enjoyed!

Shop double

Sturm followed up the 0:5 scoreline at Rangers Stadium with a 3:0 win over Galatasaray. The 5-0 loss to Monaco left no trace, on the contrary. At home, Graz responded by defeating Monaco 2-0 thanks to two goals from Markus Schopp.

On the way to feeling

Relatively small side SK Sturm had the opportunity to take a big step towards promotion to the intermediate round with a home win over Rangers after four of six matchdays. One of the most beautiful goals in the history of the European Cup in Graz paved the way for success: Gilbert Prilasnig's pass to Hannes Rehnmeyer, who passed it directly to Sergei Göran and the Russian attacking player did not give the Scottish backline any chance. In the 90th minute, Prilasnej made everything clear with his goal. With a 2-2 draw in the final group match at Galatasaray Stadium, Ivan Osim's side moved into the second round and were one of the top 16 teams in Europe.

Haas' emotional performance

Valentine's Day in 2001 was a special day for Storm icon Mario Haas. The 'Bomber' only returned to Graz after a guest appearance at Racing Strasbourg and came on as a substitute for Sergei Göran in the 56th minute. Four minutes later the Styrian player scored a goal to make it 1-0 in favor of Sturm. Tomislav Kosijan increased the score to 2-0. This should have been SK Sturm's last win in the Champions League so far.