When the Champions League Final is to be played in one’s own backyard, investing on quality players doesn’t seem to be a bad idea. The Bayern board must take the blame if Bayern fails to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
75% of the time, when Basel has won the first leg by a score of 1-0, they have advanced to the following round. 80% of the time, Bayern has progressed after losing 1-0 in the away leg. Facts and figures only tell half the story. A real look at matters suggests Bayern is truly in jeopardy of being knocked out tomorrow night.
Basel has a twelve point lead in the Swiss Super League after beating Grasshopper Zurich 2-0. The scorers on the day? - a future Bayern player and a former Dortmund player in Xherdan Shaqiri and Philipp Degen respectively! Bayern meanwhile reduced the gap with Dortmund to five points after a morale boosting, high powered and simply brilliant 7-1 win over Hoffenheim
Seven quick goals gave one the impression that Markus Babel was coaching a relegation-threatened side rather than a mid-table side. Babel’s face bore the expression of a defeated man- he didn’t try to rally his troops even once. This is not the first time Bayern has embarrassed a team thoroughly- HSV, Freiburg and St Pauli were all at the mercy of Bayern last year.
Last season, at roughly this time, Bayern recorded a massive victory over HSV. The following match, they faced Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena. They lost the match 2-3 and lost the tie on away goals. The margin of their victory in the previous match against HSV had been….six goals.
Bayern’s away form is testament to their ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ nature. Bayern has won every home game in 2012 by a total score of 13-1. This averages more than four goals scored per home game. Against Basel, the ball game will be different.
Basel is led first of all by a man who knows more about Bayern than he should: Heiko Vogel. Also, Basel did not concede an away goal and this will allow them to play an open game and go for the killer away goal. Bayern though welcomes back Bastian Schweinsteiger, which is a massive boost for them.
Expectations were high in pre-season from the fans in terms of who the board would sign ahead of this ‘big season’. Bayern purchased Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Nils Petersen, Takashi Usami and Rafinha. While Neuer and Boateng have more than contributed, Usami and Petersen have seen more of the bench than they would like. The jury is still out on Rafinha.
Bayern as is well known has the finances required to purchase another centre-back, another right back/left back (depending on where Philipp Lahm is assigned for the season) and a good back-up striker. The board blamed Jupp Heynckes for not signing any players in the January transfer window. The Bayern board is one of the fiercest ones in the world of football- if they pressed him hard enough, Heynckes would have definitely signed players.
Moreover, Bayern’s chances of winning the Bundesliga are significantly slimmer than it seemed just over three months ago. The members of the Bayern board pride themselves on their ability to win trophies. A drought for two seasons is almost unthinkable but it might happen.
Bayern made the final with almost the same crop of players as now in 2010. Slight improvements in tactics might have helped win it this year. Thus, the members of the Bayern hierarchy must look at themselves for choosing Heynckes and taking the ‘safe’ way out. Heynckes is a good manager, but not a tactically astute one.
Just as last year, one can’t help but feel that Bayern will exit the Champions League at this stage. If Bayern does lose, expect all hell to break loose in Bavaria and expect the fans to blame the board. While the players and coach will be blamed, the board should take responsibility.
Prediction: Bayern 2-1 Basel (2-2 on aggregate; Basel advances on away goals rule)
Basel has a twelve point lead in the Swiss Super League after beating Grasshopper Zurich 2-0. The scorers on the day? - a future Bayern player and a former Dortmund player in Xherdan Shaqiri and Philipp Degen respectively! Bayern meanwhile reduced the gap with Dortmund to five points after a morale boosting, high powered and simply brilliant 7-1 win over Hoffenheim
Seven quick goals gave one the impression that Markus Babel was coaching a relegation-threatened side rather than a mid-table side. Babel’s face bore the expression of a defeated man- he didn’t try to rally his troops even once. This is not the first time Bayern has embarrassed a team thoroughly- HSV, Freiburg and St Pauli were all at the mercy of Bayern last year.
Last season, at roughly this time, Bayern recorded a massive victory over HSV. The following match, they faced Inter Milan at the Allianz Arena. They lost the match 2-3 and lost the tie on away goals. The margin of their victory in the previous match against HSV had been….six goals.
Bayern’s away form is testament to their ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ nature. Bayern has won every home game in 2012 by a total score of 13-1. This averages more than four goals scored per home game. Against Basel, the ball game will be different.
Basel is led first of all by a man who knows more about Bayern than he should: Heiko Vogel. Also, Basel did not concede an away goal and this will allow them to play an open game and go for the killer away goal. Bayern though welcomes back Bastian Schweinsteiger, which is a massive boost for them.
Expectations were high in pre-season from the fans in terms of who the board would sign ahead of this ‘big season’. Bayern purchased Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, Nils Petersen, Takashi Usami and Rafinha. While Neuer and Boateng have more than contributed, Usami and Petersen have seen more of the bench than they would like. The jury is still out on Rafinha.
Bayern as is well known has the finances required to purchase another centre-back, another right back/left back (depending on where Philipp Lahm is assigned for the season) and a good back-up striker. The board blamed Jupp Heynckes for not signing any players in the January transfer window. The Bayern board is one of the fiercest ones in the world of football- if they pressed him hard enough, Heynckes would have definitely signed players.
Moreover, Bayern’s chances of winning the Bundesliga are significantly slimmer than it seemed just over three months ago. The members of the Bayern board pride themselves on their ability to win trophies. A drought for two seasons is almost unthinkable but it might happen.
Bayern made the final with almost the same crop of players as now in 2010. Slight improvements in tactics might have helped win it this year. Thus, the members of the Bayern hierarchy must look at themselves for choosing Heynckes and taking the ‘safe’ way out. Heynckes is a good manager, but not a tactically astute one.
Just as last year, one can’t help but feel that Bayern will exit the Champions League at this stage. If Bayern does lose, expect all hell to break loose in Bavaria and expect the fans to blame the board. While the players and coach will be blamed, the board should take responsibility.
Prediction: Bayern 2-1 Basel (2-2 on aggregate; Basel advances on away goals rule)
