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Bayern Munich’s Champions League Journey 2009/10
Bayern Munich started their long, arduous, but above all thrilling trek to this year’s Champions League final on September 15, 2009 in the Ramat-Gan Stadium in Tel Aviv, where they came up against a valiant Maccabi Haifa outfit. Despite ending up losing every one of their group fixtures, Haifa gave Bayern a tough workout in this opening game and it took Louis van Gaal’s men 64 minutes to break the deadlock, Daniel van Buyten firing home after a mass scrap in the Maccabi box. The Israelis then did their best to claw themselves back level but chance after chance went begging before Thomas Müller finished them off with two goals in the final five minutes. A winning start to Bayern’s campaign was celebrated, but it was anything but convincing, a trend that continued to thread its way through the bulk of Bayern’s European adventure.
Next up was a clash of venerable Europeans, as Bayern welcomed Juventus to the Allianz Arena. Unfortunately for the sell-out crowd the game ended goalless, purely as a result of profligacy on the part of Bayern’s forwards. After the next two ties against Bordeaux, Van Gaal and his troops would be rueing those numerous missed opportunities, as two defeats against the French champions meant Bayern had achieved just four points from their four group games and beads of sweat were becoming visible on Bayern fans’ foreheads. A win against Maccabi at home was imperative if they were to keep their qualification hopes alive. Ivica Olic, making his first start for two months after an injury layoff, followed up a Mario Gomez drive that could only be parried out by Maccabi goalkeeper Davidovitch to clinch a 1-0 victory. With Juventus losing 2-0 at Bordeaux, a win in the final group game in Turin would mean progression to the last 16 for Bayern.
Juventus, only needing a draw to scupper Bayern’s efforts of last 16 qualification and progress themselves, came out firing and took the lead after 19 minutes through David Trezeguet. It was only after this goal that the self-confidence, spirit and determination that Van Gaal had by now firmly instilled in his players began to show with superb rewards. Firstly goalkeeper Hans- Jörg Butt scored from the penalty spot after Olic had been brought down, before Olic himself and then Gomez put Die Bayern 3-1 up after the break. Anatoliy Tymoshchuk rubbed salt into the wounds of the Old Lady with a fourth in stoppage time, which also capped an outstanding team display to propel Bayern into the last 16 where they would play another Italian side in Fiorentina.
The first leg in Munich was a tight affair, but Bayern’s eventual 2-1 last-gasp victory, although deserved on balance of play and opportunities created, was shrouded in controversy as Miroslav Klose’s 89th minute winner was clearly offside. The referee, Tom Henning Ovrebo (the man who refereed the controversial semi-final second leg at Chelsea last season), and his assistants did not have the best of games here either. On top of the offside goal, Massimo Gobbi was rather harshly sent off after a foul on Arjen Robben which meant Bayern could swarm forward for the last 20 minutes without fear of getting caught on the break.
Thankfully it was the football and not the refereeing that caught the eye in the second leg. Despite a severe dose of inclement weather as lashing rain and gale-force winds bombarded the Stadio Artemio Franchi, the game that ensued was blindingly hectic and enthralling. Both teams found it hard to settle as a result of the stormy conditions, but Juan Vargas put La Viola in front after 28 minutes. Stevan Jovetic then began a crazy 11 minutes of football in which four goals were scored, when he doubled Fiorentina’s lead shortly after the break. Mark van Bommel brought Bayern back into the game on the hour, only for Jovetic to score his second four minutes later. But a mere 60 seconds after Fiorentina had gained that 4-3 aggregate lead, Bayern’s superhero Arjen Robben fizzed in the first of his three astonishing and life-saving strikes in Bayern’s march to the final, meaning the away goals rule was enough to see the German Rekordmeister progress to the quarter-final. There they would surely face their toughest task yet in Manchester United.
The first portion of this mouth-watering clash did not begin well for Die Bayern, as Wayne Rooney fired United into the lead in the second minute of the game following a crucial slip by Martin Demichelis. Bayern gradually played themselves into the game, and only through a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal did they remain a goal down at half time. The second half was almost torture for the Red Devils however, as Bayern’s pressure began to tell. Finally their deserved goal came when Franck Ribéry’s deflected free-kick left Van der Saar helpless on 77 minutes. As Bayern pushed for a winner the cracks in United’s backline began to widen further and Olic’s cool finish with virtually the last kick of the game would turn out to be crushingly significant.
The second leg at Old Trafford was infused with theatrical sub-plots. Sir Alex Ferguson had stated that the ankle injury Rooney had suffered in the build-up to Bayern’s winner in the first leg would mean he had ‘no chance’ of starting the game. When he did everyone was baffled. However, it appeared to be a gamble that was to pay off after an early Darren Gibson strike and a Nani brace had United 3-0 up after 41 minutes. But the Bayern juggernaut would not give in. They finished the first half strongly and Olic squeezed a shot in two minutes before the turnaround to remind everyone the tie was far from over. Following a naive tug on a marauding Ribéry, Rafael received his second yellow card and marching orders after some gentle persuasion from those ‘typical Germans’ Van Bommel, Olic and Ribéry. That mischievous act was without doubt the turning point in the fixture, but Robben’s spectacular volley was not only worthy of winning any game, it was possibly the best, and certainly the most memorable goal of this year’s competition. Bayern would now face Lyon in the semi-final after yet another 4-4 aggregate scoreline, with away goals their saviour.
The semi-final turned out to be far more comfortable than anyone would have thought. After having to travel to Munich for the first leg by road thanks to the plumes of volcanic ash hovering over Europe’s skies, Lyon looked jaded and drained as Robben scored the third of his vital goals in the competition to put Bayern in the driving seat. The Frenchmen had no excuse for being equally poor in the second leg however, with Olic scoring the perfect hat-trick in the Stade de Gerland to secure a first Champions League final for Bayern since 2001, when they beat Valencia on penalties.
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