Bayern’s latest elite utility man is increasingly outgrowing one of the more imposing club shadows of recent timesAfter months of cliche and assumption, they’re finally getting their due credit. It may not have quite been Bayern Munich at their best, remarkably, but Friday’s 8-2 win over Barcelona was all about context, the seismic impact of the result and the stage forcing the world to recognise that they are not just the habitual Bundesliga behemoth.Even Borussia Dortmund’s chief executive, Hans-Joachim Watzke, talking at the press conference to present the club’s annual financial results, was forced to refer to the current crop as “the best team ever to play for Bayern”. If Philippe Coutinho’s strangely inevitable cameo was the door hitting Barça...
A seismic reality faces not just the club but the Bundesliga too, of which the northerners have been such a constantHe has always looked bright as the dark closed in on Werder Bremen, stood up and pointed the way forward. This time was different. Usually a beacon of positivity – a quality that has seen the club stick with him long after many of their counterparts would have happily jettisoned him – Florian Kohfeldt was deflated, the bottom of his deep well of optimism finally visible. In the minutes following Werder’s 3-1 defeat at Mainz, the head coach said he felt “empty”. In a must-win game they had started well, stumbled and then collapsed in an all-too-familiar fashion. They had...
Hansi Flick’s arrival sparked a spectacular and decisive upturn as Bayern Munich made it eight Bundesliga titles in a rowIt ended not with arrogance or effortlessness, but with spirit and defiance. After Manuel Neuer pulled off the last-gasp save from Yuya Osako to prevent Werder Bremen making Bayern Munich wait to be confirmed as champions, the goalkeeper chest-bumped with David Alaba. There was little hint of assumption, give or take the prepared T-shirts with the figure 8 on the chest.In the all-but-empty stands, Bayern’s CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and president Herbert Hainer briefly ditched the three-seat social distancing protocol to hug in celebration. “Celebrating without fans is difficult,” Robert Lewandowski told Sky after striking the winning goal that sealed an eighth...
Uwe Rösler’s side are well organised but fragile and defeat to Dortmund means Wednesday’s trip to RB Leipzig could be crucial to their Bundesliga survivalIn another context and another time, this would have been a day of celebration at the Merkur-Spiel Arena, with hosts Fortuna Düsseldorf wearing all-white shirts in commemoration of the club’s 125th birthday. With the now-familiar sounds of cries and exhortations from the bench echoing around the empty stadium, growing increasingly anxious as the afternoon ticked by and the stakes rose, it certainly wasn’t the occasion they once dreamed of.And in another context this would have been a creditable fighting display – a typical, brave-but-doomed Fortuna hard luck story, as they flirted with victory against vaunted Borussia...
Since the Bundesliga began again behind closed doors, the home side is half as likely to win as it was beforeAnd so, we’re back. The Prince (an awkward embodiment of financial necessity and the perceived need for a circus to entertain the frustrated masses) has woken Sleeping Beauty (the Premier League) from her slumbers with a kiss and their fairytale romance will be consecrated at a lavish ceremony on Wednesday (Aston Villa v Sheffield United).Cynicism is easy and to an extent justified, but this is probably a good thing. People like football and jobs depend on it, and national re-engagement in the grand distraction feels a significant moment in the return to something a little nearer normality. It is not,...