An Exciting Day At The Pub

When it comes to the football club called Bayern München, I'm usually in two minds, probably aided by my zodiac sign, which is Gemini. When Bayern faced their worst nightmare at the Nou Camp in 1999, I was actually the only one among the friends I watched that match with who dearly wanted Manchester United to win. I also expressed this opinion pretty straightforwardly and got some sharp looks by my friends...

Ten years from then I have become wiser, as I gradually came to realise that success in the Champions League is vital for German football. It doesn't actually matter which team has got success as long as there is success, which would eventually lead to a better standing of the Bundesliga in the UEFA ranking and thus to more German participants. And as we all know, it's raining star thalers in the Champions League, which are desperately needed around here since we can't have sugar daddies from Russia or Dubai to pimp our clubs due to the 50+1 rule that forces clubs in Germany to hold more shares than any potential investor.

Thus I found myself to support Bayern tonight in their encounter with Juventus Turin. And I also found myself to support our current holders VfL Wolfsburg in their bid against Manchester United. I did this even though they have been pimped by Volkswagen during the first decade of the millenium but still I'd rather see them advance than bloody Juventus, who really shouldn't be playing in the Champions League only two and a half years after having been relegated because of match fixing. Imagine what would have happened to the Boors from Kaiserslautern if they'd committed that deed - they surely would not be playing in the 2. Bundesliga these days, but far deeper down the pyramid. Besides Juventus are also hyped by a car manufacturer...

Still, the other self of me still wanted to see Bayern lose, and after 30 minutes of atrocious Bavarian play, this other self was on its way to be satisfied. After 19 minutes Bastian Schweinsteiger and Holger Badstuber were watching in awe as David Trezeguet took the ball and hammered it home just from inside the box.

The game turned around 10 minutes later when Bayern got a penalty because the otherwise magnificient Ivica Olic made sure his ankle stayed where the foot of Juventus defender Caceres was going to be a couple of milliseconds later. The score was subsequently levelled by Hans-Jörg Butt, the most dangerous goalkeeper in the world when it comes to scoring, who put an awesome penalty beyond Gianluigi Buffon.

Bayern now seemed a different team, as they really pounded on the Juventus defense for the rest of the match. It didn't help Juventus to bring on an additional defender at half-time in an attempt to hold on to the draw that would have seen them through at the expense of Bayern. There was no kidding with the Bavarians in the second half. They played as if they were rabid maniacs, taking their chance to vent all the grief that had accumulated since their last and only Champions League victory in 2001.

So they went on and put another three past a side that, according the the TV pundit, had not lost a game after taking a 1:0 lead for 76 consecutive 1:0 leads. Ivica Olic played the match of his life and even Mario Gomez managed to score - something that has become rare in recent times.

Unfortunately the perfect evening didn't transpire because the Wolves were turned down 1:3 by Manchester United in spite of a very good performance and incredible fighting spirit. Being by far the better team, they got hit three times by Michael Owen, who had already done that deed back in Munich in 2001 when England thrashed Germany 5:1...

Anyway, I hope Wolfsburg are not going to despair. I'm sure they'll prod serious butt in the oncoming UEFA league playoffs - they've come to stay. As for Bayern: I hope you'll appreciate my rare support and will now bloody go on to win the thing!