We’ve all got a few epic away day stories, but none will match the incredible tale of Basel fan Rudolf Bantle.
He’s the fan who went to a Champions League game against Inter Milan in 2004 and only just got home.
It was all because he nipped off for a slash just before full time.
Rudolf was a 60-year-old man when he went with some friends to the Champions League qualifier at the San Siro 11 years ago.
Basel were getting thumped 4-1 and with just five minutes left of the game, Rudolf went to the toilet. A decision that changed the course of his life.
When he came back from the toilet he couldn’t find the friends he had travelled with. Sadly with only €20 in his pocket and no mobile phone he was left stranded in Milan, Schweiz am Sonntag report.
Swiss police listed him as a missing person but called off efforts to find him in 2011, with many believing he had died.
But Rudolf was actually living on the streets in Milan for over a decade where he survived thanks to the kindness of locals.
After seeing Basel hammered by Inter, Rudolf adopted their fierce rivals AC Milan as his team. As well as food and spare change, locals gave him a Milan shirt with Kaka on the back.
It was only when the 71-year-old slipped and broke his leg earlier this year and was rushed to hospital that Italian authorities found he had no insurance.
The Swiss Consulate got involved and organised for Rudolf to be transported home where he now lives in a home in Basel.
Incredible.
