Lothar Matthäus is standing up for the way Michael Olise and Lennart Karl dress – and remembering a fashion misstep of his own from his return to Bayern Munich in 1992.
Lothar Matthäus returned to Bayern Munich in August 1992 after four years at Inter Milan. For his unveiling, the 1990 World Cup winner wore a yellow jacket with a black T-shirt, black trousers and black shoes. Bayern’s returning star had presented himself in the colours of Borussia Dortmund, of all clubs.
More than three decades on, Matthäus looks back on that appearance on the German football talk show Sky90. It comes amid the debate over the way Bayern pair Michael Olise and Lennart Karl dress.
Lothar Matthäus and the Yellow Jacket of 1992
“At the press conference after my return from Inter Milan to Bayern, I turned up in Dortmund colours,” Matthäus says on Sky90. “That wasn’t exactly the best idea I’d brought with me.”
Matthäus had little time to think it over. As he told Sport Bild, negotiations in Milan had only been wrapped up the evening before. The next morning, he drove some 500 to 600 kilometres to Munich, where the press conference was set for 2pm. When it came to his outfit, he admitted he had “picked the wrong thing from his wardrobe”. Only afterwards did he notice the resemblance to Dortmund’s colours.
On Sky90, Matthäus also recalls how his appearance was read at the time: “They thought, he’s coming from Italy, he’s just picked up a slightly different taste.”
Lothar Matthäus Defends Lennart Karl and Michael Olise
Karl in particular divides opinion. In April 2026, the injured youngster turned up at the Allianz Arena for the Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid dressed head to toe in pink, while Bayern’s organised fan groups had asked supporters to come in red. Uli Hoeneß then announced that he wanted to “take him aside”. “A pink suit is never sensible,” said Bayern’s honorary president.
Matthäus takes a more relaxed view: “Just let Olise and Karl play football – that’s what they’re paid for, not for what they wear,” says the former Bayern captain. “If Karl wants to wear pink, he can wear pink.”
Matthäus now looks back on his own appearance in 1992 with humour: “It was a splash of colour in my life that I’ll always remember.” He wouldn’t do it again, though: “Today I wouldn’t turn up in a yellow jacket – but then times have changed.”
