Marco Kurz and Markus Babbel's journey to a hot summer's night in Adelaide started as tough defenders battling it out in Munich derbies; during their respective tenures, Babbel's prestigious Bayern side never notched a victory over Kurz's less illustrious 1860 counterparts. 

While Babbel had a remarkable domestic and international career for Die Mannschaft, Kurz's own career faded quietly. 

Yet as coaches, Kurz's personal supremacy continued when he replaced a sacked Babbel at Hoffenheim (Kurz was sacked a few months later). 

They may never have dreamed this contest would extend halfway around the world, but the match that unfolded was worthy of such an unusual A-League rivalry.

Oriol Riera drew first blood after an ebbing and flowing first half, slotting away the rebound after Paul Izzo saved his penalty. 

Nikola Mileusnic cooly struck back twice after the break as the Reds reclaimed their dominance, but after Jordan Elsey was controversially red carded for catching Riera with his arm while jumping, Bruce Kamau equalised for the Wanderers within minutes.

Western Sydney then attempted to impress their numerical advantage to little avail, Paul Izzo more than capable of catching the repetitive catapults aimed at Riera, ending the contest 2-2.

"I don't know," Babbel said. "All the things we talked about were not there. We conceded two goals and then we started playing again, Adelaide, today we could have beaten them. They weren't that good.

"We came good in the game, for 30 minutes a good style of football. We gave freekicks away because we were sleeping. 

"The first 15 minutes we were just walking, which isn't good enough because we're not that good. Yeah we can play football, but we're not that good.

"I was more than happy that we didn't conceded because a couple of transition moments there, my heart was in the pocket."

Kurz, who had laughed off any hints of a rivalry before the match - "We played each other, but he was at Bayern" - cut a far more subdued figure after it. Adelaide now possess one of the worst disciplinary records in the league, heading into one of their most difficult months.

"It was a game with up and downs," Kurz said 

"We don't have control, it was too slow, after the break we were better but the reaction after halftime was excellent. With 10 men, we had better moments, but with 10 if you get a point you have to be happy.

"I'm not happy with the VAR refereeing decision, but I have to respect it. It was not good for the game and not good for the next game. 

"The main referee didn't make the decision, that's clear, the time was too long for the signals. It was a header, both players jumped.

"Every week is a fight. It's very important for us to get three points and January's a hard month for all teams."