It was a season that promised so much for Germany's biggest club, but it ended in heartache as Bayern Munich blew an eight point lead losing the Bundesliga to Dortmund, who also thrashed them in the German Cup Final and ultimately they lost the Champions League at their own ground to Chelsea on penalties.
However, can they recover from that and establish themselves as European Champions for the fifth time?
Understandably when discussing who is likely to win the tournament the clubs that are usually named are Barcelona and Real Madrid, then the chances of the Premier League sides are also considered.
Despite their poor performances in the competition so far, I believe there is a ruthlessness about them -evident in their domestic form- which suggests they can go one better this time.
A 1-1 draw in Valencia secured their progress to the last sixteen, yet the performance was not great as their opponents were reduced to ten men for a large period of the game.
On the other hand, they have been excellent in the Bundesliga and already lead by eight points and could kill the title race stone dead if they defeat Dortmund at the Allianz Arena a week on Saturday.
Bayern Munich seem to be the main production line to the German national team as their squad contains several key players for the national side, such as: Neuer, Lahm, Boateng, Badstuber, Muller, Kroos, Schweinsteiger and Gomez. That's eight members of one of the best national squads in World Football!
Not only that they have some really good foreign players too: Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery, Javi Martinez, Mario Mandzukic and most recently young Xherdan Shaqiri.
There is a lot of attacking players there who can really hurt teams, but what's more impressive for me is that defensively they seem to have improved in the last few years. Holger Badstuber has improved greatly and we all know the quality and experience that Phillip Lahm provides as well as one of the best goalkeepers in Europe with Manuel Neuer.
Javi Martinez did not immediately reach the standards he set so highly at Bilbao, but in recent weeks his performances have suggested he is settling in at the Allianz Arena, which is another great asset to Bayern's chances.
Bayern Munich have assembled a formiddable team and are the dark horses for this year's Champions League.
Comments welcome.
Can They Go One Better?
posted on 21/11/12
Yes I have said all this season that Bayern and Real are the only 2 teams that will win the Champions League
Bayern have a very good side now especially with their strength of depth
posted on 21/11/12
It seems strange to be saying this considering it is a German team we're talking about, but the only stumbling block they may have is can they mentally get over the collapse of last season?
In my article I mentioned that a victory for them against Dortmund would effectively kill the Bundesliga title race stone dead, but alternatively if Dortmund go away to Bayern and pick up three points then the gap is reduced to five points and an element of doubt may creep into the Bayern players' minds?
posted on 21/11/12
Dortmund already look down and out for the league though to be honest and I doubt that Schalke or Frankfurt could maintain a title challenge especially since they're already quite far behind
posted on 21/11/12
Excellent article. They've got a real chance.
Interesting what you say about mentality. In recent times the German national team and club teams have notoriously been bottlers.
posted on 21/11/12
Despite being a good team last season, Dortmund failed miserably in Europe and I think they have now focused much more effort on their European performances and it has worked for them.
However, they're playing a risky game as when you let your domestic form suffer because of participation in European competitons then if you are put out of Europe which is more than likely considering the quality of teams in the competition, then you will end up in a mess domestically and it may set you back a couple of years. You could actually liken it to Chelsea last year, although they miraculouslly won the Champions League with some terrific performances, however had they failed on doing that then the club could have gone back about three years at least.
posted on 21/11/12
It is strange Darren, as the German national team also bottled it against Italy in the European Championships when the majority of people thought they would take care of them quite comfortably.
You always associate the Germans with efficiency, just being professional enough to get the job done.
They even blew a 4-0 lead at home to Sweden too.
posted on 21/11/12
I don't think Dortmund are out of the league. It's so early in the day and are perfectly capable of going on a run and getting back in contention. Like it's been said, the game between the two is going to be huge. I'll make sure I watch that game.
On the German's bottling it, as an England fan, I must admit it's refreshing to see.
posted on 21/11/12
The Erdevisie looks like the most competitive title race this year