Bayern - Champions League review
Reaching a Champions League final, albeit tinged with the ultimate disappointment of losing, would not seem a bad season for a lot of clubs, but for Bayern Munich it proved an unmitigated disaster. For years FC Bayern had been waiting for the 'Finale Dahoam' (home final) and as the record German champions progressed serenely through the rounds it acquired a sense of destiny - a successful quest for the 'Holy Grail' was well under way.
Alas, the grail turned into a poisoned chalice and Bayern were left not only without a domestic trophy but, also, without the prize they craved most of all.
Let's cast a look back to the events preceding the tragic denoument in Munich's Allianz Arena on May 19th.
Bayern had to endure the ignominy of commencing their campaign in the third Qualifying round in August having finished only third in the previous Bundesliga season, but started off in confident fashion, winning both games against Swiss side FC Zürich, 2-0 and 1-0 respectively.
Bayern were then handed arguably the toughest of all groups, placed in Group A alongside Napoli of Italy, Manchester City of England and Villarreal of Spain.
In order to understand the various challenges presented by the teams it's worth considering briefly the different teams in each pot. From Pot 4, the weakest pot, Bayern couldn't be drawn against their compatriots Borussia Dortmund due to competition rules, leaving Napoli as by far the strongest potential opponents. The Neapolitans having a relatively low coefficient due to this being their debut season in the competition. Nevertheless, the attacking potency of Napoli, consisting of Slovakian left-winger Marek Hamsik, Ezequiel Lavezzi, the Argentinian midfielder and jewel-in-the-crown lank-haired Uruguayan forward Edison Cavani. From Pot 3 it would be difficult to argue that there was a stronger team than Manchester City, funded by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, a ruling member of UAE state Abu Dhabi and half-brother to the country's president. From Pot 2, it could have been worse than Villarreal but it's worth noting that the Yellow Submarines were Champions League finalists in 2006, although their pedigree has since faded somewhat.
On an opening night which saw Manchester City and Napoli play out and entertaining 1-1 draw in Manchester, Bayern started the group away in Spain, against perhaps their weakest opponent, despite the seedings. A relatively comfortable 2-0 win in Spain left Bayern top of the group after matchday one.
Next Manchester City visited Munich and were undone by an in-form Mario Gomez, whose brace just before half time helped the Bavarians maintain their 100% record. The English side were probably undone by a little bit of inexperience at this level and were unlucky to catch a Bayern side at the very top of their game, Bundesliga results paralleling their early Champions League success.
Matchday three saw an ascendant Bayern arrive at the San Paolo stadium in Naples to an electric atmosphere, the home team backed ferociously by a vociferous crowd. Unfortunately, this did not have the desired effect as within 2 minutes Toni Kroos netted to give the visitors an early lead. Napoli, clearly set back by this, took time to find their feet in the game but eventually pulled level with an own goal from Holger Badstuber, who, in turning a cross into his own goal, became the first player to beat Bayern's new goalkeeper Manuel Neuer in over 1000 minutes of play.
The game ended 1-1, leaving Bayern on seven points after three games, three ahead of both Manchester City and Napoli. In the return tie against Napoli, Bayern produced a stunning first-half performance, Mario Gomez continuing his fine form and helping himself to a first-half hat-trick. Nevertheless, the Italians pulled a goal back before the break to leave the score 3-1 at the interval. In the second-half, with both sides reduced to ten men after Holger Badstuber's careless sending off, Napoli pulled another goal back but to no avail. Despite the scare, Bayern, for their first-half superiority, were worth the victory. With Manchester City completing back-to-back victories over Villarreal and thus eliminating the Spaniards the group was down to three, Bayern sitting comfortably top of the pile. On matchday five all eyes were on the other fixture in Naples which would surely decide second place. Napoli prevailed against Manchester City 2-1 on a night when Bayern won an easy game 3-1 against Villarreal with Mario Gomez netting his sixth goal of the group stage along with a double from Franck Ribery. In the last game, with top spot in the group already sealed, Bayern fielded practically a reserve team, much to the chagrin of Napoli. A Manchester City win coupled with Napoli failing to win in Spain would have sent the English team through. Against an unrecognizable Bayern side including seven changes from the previous league game, City fulfilled their task with a regulation 2-0 win but were eliminated from the competition thanks to Napoli's victory in Spain.
Bayern eased comfortably through to the knock-out stages taking top spot in the group, joined by Napoli whilst big-spending Manchester City had to make do with a berth in the Europa League.
In next week's edition Jonathan will look at the business end of the Champions League, culminating with a riveting final act in Munich .
