Profile

Markus Babbel was a fine attacking right-back who excelled during Liverpool's treble-winning season of 2000-01.

Unfortunately the German international's Liverpool career was cut short by the debilitating Guillain-Barre Syndrome, which kept him out of action for almost all of the following year.

Babbel arrived at Anfield on a free transfer from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2000 after six years with the German outfit.

The defender enjoyed two spells with the Bundesliga team - he came through the youth system at the club before moving to Hamburg in 1994 only to return to his boyhood team two years later.

Before arriving at Liverpool Babbel already had an enviable honours list with three Bundesliga titles and a UEFA Cup medal from his time with Bayern.

The Munich-born full-back made his debut for Germany in a friendly against Spain in February 1995 and went on to be a member of their 1996 European Championship winning team.

The German made his Liverpool debut against Bradford City on August 19, 2000, one of 60 starts during the campaign.

Despite being a defender, Babbel was noted for his surging runs and important goals during his first season at the club.

He scored against Everton in the Merseyside derby at Goodison Park in April 2001 and also opened the scoring in the UEFA Cup final against Alaves.

After a wonderful season in which he picked up five medals things began to go wrong for the defender when he was struck down by a potentially deadly virus.

Babbel showed great courage and determination in attempting to make a comeback during the 2002-03 season, but the illness had taken its toll and he wasn't the same player.

After spending most of the previous season in the reserves Babbel joined Graeme Souness at Blackburn in August 2003 on a year-long loan.

He returned to his homeland in July 2004 when he joined Stuttgart.

Babbel will be fondly remembered by Liverpool fans as an exciting full-back who played a vital part in the club claiming an historic treble. Sadly people also ponder what might have been.

Other Clubs:
Bayern Munich, SV Hamburg (loan), Blackburn (loan), Stuttgart