London was invaded by Germany tonight, with an estimated 150,000
making their way from the continent. Their intention: to watch arguably the
most prestigious game in European football, the Champions League final. Hosted
at Wembley for the 2nd time in three seasons, Europe’s most valuable
tournament has once again provided twists, turns and plenty of shocks on the
way to the finale. After a gruelling 9 months of European competition, only
Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were left standing, giving the first ever
all German Champions League final. My earlier blog post ‘Germany 11-3 Spain’
asks whether this indicates a significant shift away from the traditionally
dominant Spaniards, as this season more than many others has seen German clubs
coming to the fore. In the German league, Munich romped away to claim the title
in early April, ending a full 25 points clear of their nearest rivals,
Dortmund. This gave them the tag of comfortable favourites going into this
final, though as we have seen in recent Wembley and Champions League finals,
that tag ultimately means nothing.
As far
as each of their Champions League campaigns are concerned, both have had to do
it the hard way. Borussia Dortmund in particular, as they were involved in what
had been labelled the ‘Group of Death’, with the league champions from each of
Spain, England and Holland as their opponents. Dortmund performed above all
expectations in the group stages, finishing as group winners. A tricky tie
against Shakhtar Donetsk followed, with a nervy 2-2 draw in Ukraine being followed
up by an emphatic 3-0 home win to see the Germans through. The pivotal moment
in the whole of Dortmund’s campaign came in the Quarter Final against Malaga. After
a dull 0-0 draw in Spain, the Germans fell behind twice in the return leg, only
for Dortmund to stage an injury time comeback, reminiscent of Manchester United’s
famous 1999 final success over Bayern Munich, to win 3-2. A 4-1 home demolition
of the great Real Madrid in the Semi Final first leg made the world sit up and
take notice, and whilst the Germans had to withstand an anxious last ten
minutes, they held firm to qualify for their first Champions League final since
1996.
Bayern
Munich, in comparison, had arguably a far easier group. Nevertheless, they
still had to win it, which they did (albeit on results between themselves and
Valencia), setting up a Last 16 game against Arsenal. A brilliant 3-1 win at
the Emirates set themselves up nicely, only to nearly collapse in the return
leg, being lucky to progress on away goals after a 0-2 defeat. A more
comfortable victory in the Quarter Final followed, with the Bavarians winning
both legs 2-0 to set up a semi final with Catalan giants Barcelona. An
astonishing home leg scoreline, as the Germans blew the favourites for the
title away, winning 4-0. Even more astonishing was the result the following
week, as Munich went to the Nou Camp and thoroughly outplayed the Spaniards,
winning 3-0 to cap a resounding 7-0 aggregate victory and taking them into
their second consecutive Champions League final. Jupp Heynckes, the Munich
manager, having already led his side to resounding victory in the league, can
justifiably feel hard done by, having been given his notice in January to make
way for Pep Guardiola from the start of this season. The prospective treble
seemed like the perfect leading present, and the best way to show the Munich
board that they may have made the wrong decision in replacing him.
In the
weeks leading up to the final, bad blood erupted between the two clubs, as
Bayern announced the signing of Dortmund playmaker Mario Gotze for the start of
the following season. This led to a slanging match in the press over the course
of several days, with insults being thrown from both camps. This was
exacerbated by a league game between the pair, where Dortmund coach Jurgen
Klopp had a major disagreement with the Bayern bench, almost coming to blows on
the touchline. Further Munich pursuits of Dortmund talisman Robert Lewandowski
further stoked the atmosphere before the Wembley final, where Munich would be
desperate to avoid the heartbreak dished out, at the Allianz, against Chelsea
in last season’s final.
The game began at a ferocious pace, with
Dortmund pressurising the ball at every opportunity. Thanks to this, Dortmund
looked the more dangerous of the two sides in the opening half hour, with
firstly Lewandowski, and then Marko Reus testing Manuel Neuer. Sven Bender also
found himself in space in the Munich area, but the defensive midfielder failed
to connect properly, allowing Neuer to collect comfortably. After this, Munich
found their feet, with Mario Mandzukic’s header being brilliantly kept out by
Dortmund keeper Roman Weidenfeller. After this, the two best chances of the
first half fell to Arjen Robben. The first came to him rather fortuitously,
with a deflected pass putting the Dutchman in. Unfortunately for the Bavarians,
Robben could only hit the big Dortmund keeper. A similar outcome just a few
minutes later, with a slip by Mats Hummels letting in the usually predatory
Robben, but once again, the face of Weidenfeller prevented the winger from
breaking the deadlock. Robert Lewandowski’s late chance showed that Dortmund
were by no means out of the contest, but the first half ended goalless.
The
second half began in vastly the same way as the first, with Dortmund
pressurising Munich’s every move. However, unlike the previous half, they
failed to create any decent openings, leaving Mario Mandzukic to tap Munich
into the leader after some good work from Arjen Robben. The goal shocked
Dortmund into action, and just 8 minutes later, they had a chance to respond. A
clumsy Dante challenge on Marko Reus gave Ilkay Gundogan the chance to level
matters from the spot. The German, replacing Lewandowski as penalty taker after
the Pole’s miss in the league game against Neuer a few weeks ago, made no
mistake, sending the Bayern keeper the wrong way. After this, the game became
increasingly stretched, with chances arriving thick and fast at both ends. A
brilliant Neven Subotic goalline clearance prevented Bayern’s Thomas Muller
from putting the Bavarians back into the lead, before Robert Lewandowski had a
stunning 30 yard strike correctly disallowed for handball. However, as the game
entered the final ten minutes, Dortmund were under increasing pressure from the
German champions. Eventually, the pressure told, as Robben got on the end of a
clever Ribery through ball to slide the ball past Weidenfeller and send the
crowd behind the Dortmund goal wild. With only two minutes to go, Dortmund had
no time for a response, meaning that Bayern collected their fifth European Cup.
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