It was a warm day in Munich. Over sixty thousand people had come to the Allianz Arena, home of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, for the Champions League final. Their team was going to take on an inexperienced, inferior Chelsea side, in their own city, in front of their own fans. It seemed that God himself had planned an easy Bayern win.
The game began as expected. The German beast unleashed round after round of attack, dominating the midfield battle, and tearing apart a Chelsea team that was in a transitional period. Eighty minutes passed before the roar of the crowd became a whimper. Chance after chance was created, yet the Chelsea defense refused to cave. Anxiety spread throughout the stadium, and the fear began to grow that Chelsea would draw the game out to penalties. Finally, in the eighty third minute the breakthrough came. Thomas Muller headed in a cross to give Bayern the lead, giving life to the dying Allianz Arena, and hope that the Germans would recover from the finals loss just a few years ago against Inter Milan. And then, just five minutes later, a Chelsea counter attack brought those dreams to a crashing halt. Didier Drogba headed in a corner to bring the underdogs back from oblivion. Two periods of added time made little difference, until finally, the referee blew. It was time for penalties.
Four penalties were taken and three were converted by each side. Up to the spot came Bayern midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. A good luck charm amongst the Munich faithful, the 6-foot-tall Bavarian had scored the winning penalty against Real Madrid in the semi-finals. Now, he had the opportunity to send his team to glory. A short run up, a stutter step, and a well-aimed shot beat Peter Cech, but came crashing off the post. Head in his hands, Schweinsteiger watched as Drogba approached the spot and beat Manuel Neuer to win the game for Chelsea.
It was their second finals in three years, and it was their second loss. Domestically, despite being by far the best funded team in the Bundesliga, Bayern had only won once in the last four years, and had come in third in the 2010-2011 season. Even after having almost tasted glory twice, the German side was seen as a lesser giant in the world, a team dwarfed by Barcelona and Manchester United. A squad filled with some of the best players in history might never win the Champions League.
Over Jupp Heynckes’s dead body.
That summer meant major change for Bayern. It seemed that something had clicked in the mind of Heynckes. The transfer window saw the release or replacement of several fringe players. Hamit Altintop and Ivica Olic were let go on a free transfers to Real Madrid and Wolfsburg respectively, while it was decided that Daniel Van Buyten and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk were not strong enough backup for the midfield and defensive line. Yet perhaps the biggest change was the benching of Mario Gomez. The 27-year-old poacher was renowned for his goal scoring capabilities, and was seen as some as one of the best strikers in the world at the time.
The biggest surprise about Bayern’s purchases that summer wasn’t their individual skill, but the fact that each was almost perfect for the way the squad performed. Brazilian defender Dante was brought in as backup for Holger Badstuber and Jerome Boateng, not a moment too soon as it seemed, as Badstuber would miss most of the next season through injury. In the midfield, Javi Martinez was courted away from Athletic Bilbao to the tune of a €40 million buyout. His ability to replace Luis Gustavo and provide better support alongside Schweinsteiger would mean that Bayern had filled a hole in their system; they had a dual playmaking threat.
Mario Mandzukic was the offensive substitution for Gomez, who was out because of ankle surgery. The key was that Manduzkic brought everything that Mario Gomez lacked: an ability to create chances rather than simply poaching them, a type of strength that helped him win the ball inside the box, and most importantly, his work rate. The last proved to be the most effective, as Heynckes planned not only to overhaul Bayern Munich’s team, but also their style of play.
Simply put it, he used the raw midfield power that Bayern possessed and channeled it. Superficially, it looked like Bayern was playing a simple 4-2-3-1, a formation that creates a strong midfield and defense, but that leaves a very difficult job for a striker to fight through the opposition alone. Deeper down, however, it was a style of play that the world had never before seen, something that teams simply could not handle. That became apparent as Bayern began to win games in the Bundesliga. The extra additions had surely made a difference, but it was not so noticeable in the Champions League. Bayern won an easy group stage, and went through in the round of 16 against Arsenal on the away goal rule. Two hard fought victories against Juventus pitched our German heroes against the deadly Barcelona. Hailed as the best team in the world at the time, and having the best player in the world, one Lionel Messi, it didn’t seem that the Bayern side that could barely beat Arsenal could survive the encounter.
Oh how wrong they were.
Heynckes’s master plan came to fruition as Bayern absolutely tore apart the “Greatest Side of All Time” with extreme ease. The key was in player roles; no one was who they seemed. When under attack, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben dropped back from being offensive wingers to left and right midfielders, while Muller and Mandzukic (Gomez played up front in the first leg) dropped back almost into a central midfield position, intercepting through balls to disrupt play. On the offensive, Bayern were all the more impressive. Muller, the young player who had come to fruition during the 2010 World Cup, would push forward, using his skillful approach to act almost as a second striker alongside Mandzukic. Ribery would use his speed to spring his teammates forward and used pure skill as a winger to create chances. Robben would tuck in and act as a third striker, bringing in surprise plays with his left foot. Meanwhile, Schweinsteiger would move into a more forward position and use his playmaking ability to orchestrate intricate plays, almost as if he was a natural attacking mid. When all was said and done it was a 7-0 thrashing of Barcelona on aggregate over the two legs.
The Champions League final saw a strong initial push by Dortmund to break Bayern down. The first fifteen minutes included an extremely high pressure game by the reigning Bundesliga champions, and Bayern were recoiling from the shock. Dortmund’s manager, Jurgen Klopp had decided that he would attack the one hole in Bayern Munich’s squad, the fact that the entire team revolved around Schweinsteiger. During Bayern’s 0-2 loss to Arsenal, much of the team’s failure came because they were missing their star playmaker. In the same vein, Dortmund’s midfield pressed Schweinsteiger almost into his own 18 yard box, and Robert Lewandowski unleashed a few pot shots against Neuer. In the end, it was a daring tactic that could only be used for a short amount of time, and Dortmund’s players soon became exhausted, meaning that Ribery and Robben could penetrate down the wings while Muller ran the center of the field. Bayern won the game, and finally, after appearing in three of the last four Champion’s League finals, they had won.
But the story didn’t end there. It was just the beginning. Heynckes retired and in came Pep Guardiola. It seemed that Guardiola had seen how teams like Inter Milan and Manchester United had fallen from grace after hitting their peak, and was determined to prevent that from happening to Bayern. The summer saw the acquisition of his former player, Thiago Alcantra. This was seen as somewhat of a bad move as Bayern had just signed a contract with Dortmund star Mario Gotze. It would seem that the midfield, Schweinsteiger, Kroos, Thiago, Gotze, Muller, Martinez was now overloaded with top talent with not enough space on the starting squad to appease all of them.
There were roars all around the world that Bayern could never sustain the team sheet, and that surely the excess would poison their locker room. What wasn’t kept in check, however, was Bayern’s ability to manage players. This was due to the idea that Bayern had seemingly instilled in its management years ago, that every player was important and needed to be nurtured, whether starting at the club or on the bench. This strategy meant that big names could come in while homegrown players would still remain loyal to the club. Thus began Bayern’s reign of glory.
Obviously spending by itself does not equal success. If it was, Manchester City, Real Madrid, and PSG would win every game they played. No, the truth in Bayern Munich’s spending was that it was not only natural capital (acquired by revenues rather than rich owners), but that it was combined with an already efficient system. While other teams spent to plug holes season after season, Bayern spent wisely, bringing in players that are somehow perfect for their system. The kicker, though, is that Bayern seemed to plug future holes in their squad. Bayern spent millions on players that they didn’t even need.
Essentially, they began to replace players before they came close to retiring age. Barcelona had reigned dominant under the guiding hand of Messi for years, until last summer they realized that they had no proper defense; this all coming to light at a time that central defenders are at a premium. As a preventative measure, Guardiola took a risk in upsetting his players to prevent a similar failure in the future. The entrance of Thiago meant that the team no longer was dependent on Schweinsteiger staying healthy, Gotze meant that if Robben, Muller, or Ribery was injured he could easily step in to great effect. A year later, a pre-contract with Robert Lewandowski meant that Bayern had an even better striker up front over the loveable Mario Mandzukic.
Being one of the greatest managers of the game, Guardiola used his ability to manage squads to keep the team together. Instead of upsetting Schweinsteiger or Mandzukic or Toni Kroos, he encouraged them to remain in Munich, rotating them frequently with their counterparts. Obviously no system is impenetrable, and there’s a good chance that some players will leave this summer (mainly Kroos), but that’s the brilliance of it all. When someone leaves, Guardiola can simply use his and Bayern’s reputation to attract more talent. A Julian Draxler here, a Lewandowski there, as long as Bayern keeps their normal retention rates, they remain dominant.
These players, under the guarding eye of Pep Guardiola, began to play an even more audacious style of football. Bayern played a beautiful mix of Spanish possession football combined with pure German attacking play. The result meant that the midfield and attacking capabilities of the squad were enhanced. They now sit undefeated in 49 Bundesliga games, 20 points above Borussia Dortmund, who only lost by one goal in the finals less than a year ago.
It was just a matter of time that Bayern claimed their place as champions of the world, and there isn’t a manager in the world who can dispute the fact. Whether this rise to power can take the club to new heights on an international level is yet to be seen, but one thing holds true: there’s an empire growing in Bavaria, the only question is how long it can last.
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