Football fans all over the world will today be treated to the best of football when two German sides take the centre stage in an all German finals of this year’s UEFA Champions League to be decided at the Wembley Stadium, London.
Since 1955 when the UEFA Champions League Cup was founded, only three occasions have seen two teams from the same country in the final before today. The last occasion was in 2008 when English side Manchester United defeated Chelsea on penalties.
Prior to that time, in 2000, two Spanish sides met in the finals with Real Maldrid defeating Valencia 3-0 to lift the trophy while the 2003 edition saw two Italian sides Juventus and AC Milan doing battle, with AC Milian winning on penalties.
This year introduces an all German final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund to make it the fourth time in history that two teams from one country are playing in the final.
To get to this stage of the elite European competition, Bayern Munich defeated Spanish giants, FC Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate, while their fellow Bundesliga side defeated another Spanish side, Real Maldrid on a 4-3 aggregate to get to the final of today’s encounter.
The two clubs have met three times this season, with Bayern beating Dortmund 2-1 in the DFB-Supercup on Aug. 12 and the two sides drawing 1-1 in Bundesliga action on Dec. 1 in Munich and May 4 in Dortmund.
On the last 20 occasions that Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich have met each other, only on seven occasions did Dortmund manage a win, five ended in draws and Bayern won eight times.
The two sides tutored by Coaches Jupp Heynckes for Bayern and Jurgen Klopp for Dortmund boasts of talented players who can hold their own against any team in the world, which will make today’s encounter very entertaining.
Players like Robert Lewandowski, Franck Ribery, Mario Gotze, Javi Martinez, Mats Hummels, Mario Mandzukic and Bastain Schweinstenger will make the final an entertaining encounter.
On paper, Bayern, who are going for their fourth European title appears to have an edge over their fellow Germans considering that they have a 25-point lead over Dortmund and will be going into today’s final game with the loss of last year’s final to Chelsea still fresh in their minds, but Dortmund, who are gunning for their second UEFA Champions League win in 16 years after defeating Juventus to lift the trophy for the first time in 1997 goes into the game on a good run of form. Their only defeat in their last ten matches came against Real Madrid while their last Bundesliga defeat came against Schalke 04. Since then they’ve beaten six opponents which is an indication that the final encounter will be a thriller.
It must be acknowledged that whichever side wins the trophy will produce its seventh German winner and it is hoped that the team that will achieve this feat will be the one playing to its full fire power.
Although some football fans have been quick to state that Dortmund who finished second behind Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich, might not find it easy lifting the trophy, but a former striker with Borussia Dortmund, Alex Frei, believes that his former club has what it takes to be crowned UEFA champions for the second time in the club’s history.
According to him, the pressure will be on Bayern Munich, especially considering that they are Bundesliga champions and last year’s runners-up in the competition. He believed they will carry the confidence into today’s final which will enable Dortmund play their normal game and win the match.
However, Bayern Munich captain, Philipp Lahm, has expressed confidence that the team will win today’s encounter and use the victory to prepare for the German Cup a week later.
“This team is hungry, as we’ve seen throughout the season. We refused to be distracted by our huge lead in the Bundesliga, nor by losing last season’s Champions League final. We’ve stuck to our course, and we’ll continue on it.
“We’re hoping to win the cup and go ahead and complete the treble by winning the German Cup a week later. I’m very confident this team could be very successful over the next few years, both at home and in Europe,” he said.
Supporting him, Bayern’s Brazilian import, Dante noted that although Borussia Dortmund is a dangerous team, they have mapped out strategies on how to tame them at Wembley.
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