Champions League Final: Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund – XI Conclusions

By Chris Wright

Soccer - UEFA Champions League - Final - Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich - Wembley Stadium

Here’s our semi-drunken conclusions from last night’s Champions League Final…

1. Dortmund went with “wing and a prayer” approach to defending. Indeed, their back four was so slap-dash that Klopp’s men were lucky not to be out of the game by the hour mark. Ultimately a lack of organisation cost them the big prize.

2. From top to bottom, on the night Bayern Munich were better than Dortmund in every aspect.

3. Given it was a bit of a fluke they made it through the semis anyway, we get the feeling we’re not going to see this incarnation of Dortmund reach the Champions League Final again anytime soon. When it came down to it they played like a team lacking confidence in their pedigree.

4. At €40 million,  Javi Martinez is far and away Bayern’s record signing (at least until Mario Gotze clambers aboard) and he looked worth every single penny of it last night. Colossal.

5. The two goalkeepers were absolutely superb when called upon, with Dortmund’s Roman Weidenfeller pulling off the pick of the saves – though save of the night must go to Neven Subotic, whose clearance to deny Thomas Muller/Arjen Robben was truly sensational…

subotic

6. It’s difficult to believe that he’s still only 29, but it warmed our cockles to see wee Philipp Lahm lifting the trophy for Bayern last night – the club he joined as an 11-year-old back in 1995. Props are too due to Arjen Robben, who has fallen short in all three of the last major tournament finals he’s played in. Scoring the 89th-minute winner in a Champions League Final is a fairly good way to banish those kind of demons.

7. On that subject, having the victorious captain go up the stairs last really makes lifting the trophy an awkward ordeal. One of the many insidious cancers eating away at the moral fibre of our beloved sport. It’s time for UEFA to act.

8. Speaking of UEFA, Mario Mandzukic has got some serious grovelling to do to them this morning…

9. After the six months he’s just had, we can only imagine that when Jupp Heyckes got home he lit a cigar, poured himself a large snifter of kirsch, went through to his study, shut the door behind him and was all like…

jupp

10. Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is the new David May: front and centre in all of Bayern’s celebration despite playing roughly zilch minutes of Champions League football this season…

tymoschuk

11. Assuming he’s back at Chelsea by then, we’re going to be staring down the barrel of a Guardiola vs Mourinho UEFA Super Cup in Prague on August 30th. That should be fun.

What say you Pies fans? Agree/disagree? Draw any conclusions of your own? Let us know all about it…

 

Posted in Champions League, Featured, Newsnow, Opinion, Top 10s & lists

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14 Comments

  1. porcelain sandwich says:

    I’m sorry, in what way was it a fluke that Dortmund made it through the semis?

  2. Anonymous says:

    11. Overrated vs Overrated, great match

  3. Si says:

    Dortmund deserved to be in the final just as much as Bayern.

    They beat some of the best teams in Europe to get to the final and pretty much bossed most of the first half. True, their defensive strategy was a bit slapdash last night but good lord, did they have Bayern worried on more than occasion throughout the game. It was always going to be that sort of game. Bayern presented too much of a threat for Dortmund not to go for it.

    And @Anonymous – how is either team overrated exactly? Bayern are a fantastic prospect. They have been one of the standout teams in the Champions League for a good for years now. Plus, they have a starting eleven that most teams can only dream of. As for Dortmund, they have also been a class act for yonks.

    Both teams are far better than most of the punt-and-hope teams that our beloved Premiership has to offer.

  4. jojo says:

    I think you’re being far too harsh on Dortmund. They started very well, unsettling Bayern and creating chances. That level of energy and commitment is very hard to keep up, and it showed in the last half hour. Regardless, it was still a 2-1 in the 88th minute. The match could have gone either way.

  5. Wynton says:

    How in god’s name was it a fluke Dormund made in trough the semi-final? They literally outclassed Real Madrid in the first leg. Their place in the final was well-deserved!

  6. Cameron says:

    Chris was probably referencing when Dortmund snuck past Malaga in the quarters to reach the semis
    2 goals in stoppage time (1 0ffside IMO)

  7. Herman says:

    It shows that you were drunk when you made that list.

  8. AAAAA says:

    @Si he was referring to conclusion no. 11—>Guardiola & Mourinho = overrated.(not that I’m agreeing with him…)

  9. pepG says:

    Dortmund certainly deserved to be there. And on the subject of just deserts, or rather the lack of them, perhaps it should have been noted that Frank Ribery is an absolute tool: that swinging elbow, then throwing a hissy fit when it was pointed out to him that he diving is worse than Bale’s.

  10. Nuno says:

    I read that “fluke” part and thought of the Malaga game, with the offside goal in the last gasp (although I believe Malaga also had an illegal goal, if I remember right). They suffered a lot in the 2nd leg against Real, but they had quite a few chances to score in Barnabeu, so that game definitely wasn’t a fluke.
    And I also don’t think Dortmund were that mcuh outplayed, mainly given that Bayern couldn’t do anything for at least the first 30 minutes, given Dortmund’s high pressure (although that might have caused the ‘openings’ in the back of their defense in the 2nd half). To me, Dortmund were clearly better in the first 30 minutes of the game, Bayern better in the last 30.
    Overall I think it was a great game, very balanced, that any team could have won

  11. bestie says:

    “from top to bottom Bayern were better in every aspect”. next time, can you please wait until AFTER the game to get pissed?

  12. Mr Sensible says:

    What the fuck have have you got against Dortmund? How was their passage into the final a fluke, did I miss something, I’m pretty sure they won the tie 4-3.

    Bayern were the better team and deserved winners but Dortmund have been a breath of fresh air and a joy to watch, why can’t they reach another final?

    You’re an idiot.

  13. Cameron says:

    He is probably referencing to when Dortmund snuck past Malaga in the quarters

  14. Peters says:

    Franck Ribery has to be one of the most handsom men in the history of everything

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