Who laughs last

Who laughs last

With 124 games played so far this season by 32 teams across Europe, it all boils down to Europe’s most important club game- the UEFA champions league final. Which other teams are best to play it if not the two deserving teams – Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. While Bayern’s roller coaster ride may not have come as a surprise to many, Borussia Dortmund have deservedly found their way through all their games at the height of their strength from the group stage to the pulsating semi final. They navigated excellently well as underdogs.



Bayern Munich given guard of honour by BVB on May 4, 2013

Bayern Munich’s season

The Bavarian’s form this season has been devastating to say the least. In 34 league games, they won 29, drew 4 and lost 1, cumulating up to a record breaking 91 points (English champion Manchester United amassed 89 points and Italian champion Juventus garnered 87 points both from 38 games). In the process, they scored 98 goals and conceded 18 – a total of +80 goal difference. In the UCL this season, in 12 games, they won 9, drew 1 and lost 2 scoring 29 goals and conceded 10 in the process. That they dispatched Italian and Spanish champions, Juventus and Barcelona by 11 goals aggregate and let in non in the quarter and semi final is quite scary. All the above is a product of direct football, dynamism in attack, occasional individual brilliance and of course with 1998 UCL winner in the shape of Jupp Heynckes who has wealth of experience to the fore by efficiently bringing out the best of all his players and keeping his arrays of stars ever happy and hungry. Their top scorer in the UCL is Thomas Muller with 8 goals, then Claudio Pizarro and injured Toni Kroos with 4 and 3 goals respectively.

Lewandowski jubilates after scoring Madrid on April 24, 2013

Borussia Dortmund’s season

Yes Bayern have been in beast mode this season inflicting indelible marks on every team they have met. But if there’s any team that has their number, it certainly is Borussia Dortmund. In the exact words of their coach Jurgen Klopp “if you look at the results of Bayern Munich this season, they basically destroyed anyone in a heartbeat, anyone but us”. Dortmund might not have gotten it right in the league this season having acquired 66 points from 19 wins, 9 draws and 6 losses. They scored 81 goals and conceded 42 - +39 goals difference. But for a team which after 6 games in the group stage last season could not qualify for the Europa cup to reach the final this season, it shows improvement and maturity. They have carefully negotiated their way, sometimes as under dogs, taking 410 million euro assembled Manchester city and 475 million euro assembled Real Madrid to the cleaners. Spearheaded by the much reliable Robert Lewandowski who put four past Real Madrid to make his tally 10 in the UCL this term and Marco Reus who has 4 goals, they are a very confident side. In the UCL this season, they have in 12 games won 7, drawn 4 and lost only 1. They have thrived so far on fearlessness, total and direct football, with the clever Jurgen Klopp dishing out the right instructions from the bench, not leaving out the support of their vociferous fans that have made sure no team left the Signal Iduna Park with a point by making the atmosphere unbearable for them.

Robben jubilates atfer scoring BVB in DFB Pokal on Feb 3, 2013

Bayern and Dortmund

Bayern have risen from the shadow of Dortmund in the past two seasons to turn the tie this season. In four meetings, the four time European champions have won twice (German super cup and the DFB Pokal) and shared the spoils in the other two (league). They ended the league a record 25 points ahead of second- placed Dortmund and broke over 23 records in the process. To add to their psychological edge, they played the mafian game on Dortmund by triggering the buy out clause of their lynchpin, Mario Gotze who is set to jump ship after the match.

Dortmund on the other hand, can draw inspiration from their only meeting with Bayern in Europe. As defending champion, they drew away at the then Olympic stadium and won at home courtesy of a 109^th minute goal by Stephane Chapuisat to qualify ahead of Bayern for the semi final in the 1997/1998 season.

To the neutrals

A win for Bayern would be victory for money well spent, dynamism in attack, consistency, experience and persistence.

On the other hand, a win for Dortmund would represent victory for youthfulness, teamwork (no particular key player), and modest spending which would further give credence to the soon to be activated financial fair play by UEFA.

Bayern players celebrating after demolishing Barcelona on May 1, 2013

My verdict

This first all German final could go either way. Winning the treble would depend on what Bayern draw from their last two final defeats in three years or how much Dortmund can rise above the under dog tag and hold their own even without the injured Mario Gotze. For me, given that they both boast the best defense this season, Bayern have the upper hand owing to their more dynamic attack. Whichever the case, it is a victory for German football.

Conclusion

This is a lesson to be learnt by every other nation in the globe. The Germans have successfully turned a local match into an international match coincidentally in Wembley, London, a country where modern football is said to have started. This is the dividend of good football academies by all clubs following their bad outing in Euro 2000. Hardwork and discipline is not left out. Even though they are not particularly the most popular clubs, through estimate, the match would be seen by over 4 billion people across 223 countries. This is victory for football.

follow me on twitter via @larryeghosa