Bayern Munich paid emotional tribute to Franz Beckenbauer in their first match since his death on Friday night.
The German and global football icon sadly passed away in his sleep on Sunday at the age of 78, plunging the game into mourning for one of the true all-time greats.
A World Cup winner with his country as both a player and a manager, at club level Beckenbauer was synonymous with Bayern, for whom he featured 582 times as a player between 1964-77 and won a glut of major silverware including four Bundesliga titles, three European Cups and four German Cups.
'Der Kaiser' went on to win the Bundesliga with Bayern again as a manager as well as the Uefa Cup, also serving the club as both president and honorary president in his long career in the sport.
"The FC Bayern world is no longer what it used to be - suddenly darker, quieter, poorer," Bayern said after Beckenbauer's death.
And the tributes to the two-time Ballon d'Or winner were on full display as reigning champions Bayern returned from the Bundesliga's winter break with a home match against Hoffenheim on Friday night.
The game itself was dedicated to Beckenbauer, while both sets of players wore black armbands and a minute's silence was held by the 75,000-strong crowd before kick-off - both actions that will be repeated throughout German football this weekend.
Bayern's players also warmed up in special training kit and vintage jackets bearing his iconic No5, with Beckenbauer's own pop song from the 1960s - ‘Gute Freunde’ ('Good Friends') - played both when the players emerged from the tunnel and every time second-place Bayern scored in a comfortable 3-0 victory that saw a brace from Jamal Musiala and another goal for England captain Harry Kane bring them to within a point of leaders Bayer Leverkusen, who travel to Augsburg on Saturday.
A Beckenbauer banner was placed in the centre circle ahead of kick-off against Hoffenheim, while Bayern's players also wore match shirts with the words 'Danke Franz' ('Thank You Franz') written across the front that will be auctioned off with proceeds going to the Franz Beckenbauer Foundation.
The same phrase lit up the outside of the Allianz Arena as videos of Beckenbauer were played before and after the game, while several of his friends were invited to attend the match.
A televised public memorial service for Beckenbauer - who was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Munich earlier on Friday - will take place at the Allianz Arena next Friday (January 19), set to be attended by sporting stars past and present as well as celebrities and political figures including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
