I have been an FC Bayern Munich fan for as long as I can remember. My father became a soccer (football to the rest of the world) aficionado when he was in his 40s, and his Scottish friend Jimmy Kinsella founded our hometown’s soccer program, Palatine Celtic. My brothers and I were playing soccer during one of the first of many US booms. With my German heritage and various relatives living in Munich and throughout Germany, I have always followed German soccer most closely. Bayern are the Yankees of the Bundesliga, and with the current cable / streaming viewing environment, their fan base has grown exponentially throughout the world. Every game is now available to watch, and I never miss one on TV. I’ve been to Munich several times, but my bucket list includes a live game at the Allianz Arena.
Bayern started the 2019 – 2020 season a bit slowly, and were languishing in 4th place in the Bundesliga when they replaced Niko Kovac with Hansi Flick as their coach, on an “interim basis.” Both men had played for Bayern, although neither was a first-choice manager for the top club. Flick has been nothing short of spectacular, guiding the German giants to the second treble in their history, only the second club to accomplish the feat twice. (The treble is winning the league title, the domestic cup, and the Champions League in the same year. Bayern won the Bundesliga for the eighth year in a row, won the DFB-Pokal for the twentieth time, and yesterday won their sixth Championship of Europe.) How dominant has Bayern been since Flick took over? Their overall record was 33 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw in that time span, and have won 25 of 26 matches in 2020 (the one non-win was a draw). They are the first team to win the Champions League with a perfect record (11 wins, 0 losses, 0 draws). They also set a host of team and individual scoring records, too numerous to list here.
I listen daily to several soccer podcasts, and most of the US coverage involves the EPL (English Premier League) and La Liga (the Spanish league, featuring Barcelona and Real Madrid). Very little is said concerning the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 (the French league). Interestingly, the two finalists in the Champions League were from German and French sides. The Bundesliga was the first major professional sports league to re-start during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the games were played without health incidents to speak of. The French league had decided not to finish the 2019-2020 season, which did not seem to impact Bayern’s opponent (PSG) in the final. I thought that it was a bit humorous (and frustrating) that the experts on the aforementioned podcasts started appreciating Bundesliga performances, perhaps because their eyes were finally opened when no other leagues were playing. Bayern is a very aggressive and high-scoring team which plays a very high defensive line, and many of the “experts” predicted that they would change this tactic as it was “too risky” against PSG’s potent front line. Bayern has a club slogan, Mia San Mia, which roughly translates to “We Are Who We Are.” In pure German fashion, Flick did not waiver from the strategy he had employed during his brief tenure, and was rewarded with a 1-0 victory in the final.
Mia San Mia.