Editing Michael Ballack (section)

=== 1. FC Kaiserslautern ===
It was during the seventh match of the [[1997–98 Bundesliga|1997–98 Bundesliga season]], away to [[Karlsruher SC|Karlsruhe]], that Rehhagel decided to give Ballack his first Bundesliga appearance, substituting him onto the field for the final five minutes of the encounter.<ref>{{cite web|work=Fussballdaten.de |access-date=4 July 2011 |language=de |url=http://www.fussballdaten.de/bundesliga/1998/7/karlsruhe-klautern |title=Karlsruher SC – 1. FC Kaiserslautern |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216115834/http://www.fussballdaten.de/bundesliga/1998/7/karlsruhe-klautern |archive-date=16 February 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 28 March 1998, Ballack made his first-team debut-start against [[Bayer 04 Leverkusen|Bayer Leverkusen]].<ref>{{cite web|work=Fussballdaten.de |access-date=4 July 2011 |url=http://www.fussballdaten.de/bundesliga/1998/28/klautern-leverkusen |title=1. FC Kaiserslautern – Bayer Leverkusen |language=de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216115834/http://www.fussballdaten.de/zweiteliga/1996/1/chemnitz-leipzig |archive-date=16 February 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Ballack made 16 appearances for his new team during the season as the club became the first-ever newly promoted team to lift the [[List of German football champions|Bundesliga title]].<ref name=nearlyman/> In the [[1998–99 Bundesliga|following season]], Ballack became both a regular member of the team (he made 30 appearances, scoring 4 goals in the league) and one of the side's leading players. Kaiserslautern reached the quarter finals of the [[1998–99 UEFA Champions League|Champions League]], but were eliminated by [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern Munich]].<ref name=rsssf1>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/players/ballack-in-ec.html |title=Michael Ballack – Matches in European Cups |author=Marcel Haisma |date=15 January 2010 |access-date=4 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100216115834/http://rsssf.com/players/ballack-in-ec.html |archive-date=16 February 2010 |website=[[RSSSF]] |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 1 July 1999, Ballack moved to Bayer Leverkusen at age 22 for a transfer fee of €4.1&nbsp;million.