By Walter Broeckx
So the draw has been made and well I guess we all know by now we will face Bayern Munich in the next round of the CL.
I think it is fair to say, well the media in my country did anyway, that this fixture together with Real Madrid – Manchester United and AC Milan – Barcelona are the biggest games of this round.
Personally I would have preferred another German team to be honest. But that is just because Dortmund is a very doable trip for me and Munich not that much. I would have loved to go at Dortmund again after last year’s great experience (apart from their equalizer in the last minutes) but we can’t have it all.
Anyone who doesn’t know Bayern Munich must have lived on another planet in the last decades. The most successful team in the Bundesliga since…well as long as I can remember. They had a few less successful spells like any team but with 22 titles and almost all won since 1969 they are the most successful team in Germany. It gets even more impressing when you realise that they only played at the top level since 1965. In fact before the second world war they only won one title.
And they were not even allowed in when the Bundesliga was formed initially. They finished 3rd in the Liga South in the year before the Bundesliga was formed. But because 1860 München won that Southern League in that year and the German football Union (DFB) didn’t want two teams in it from the same city, Bayern was kept in the second division initially.
But ever since then they kept on rolling, and winning. Teams have come and gone in the Bundesliga but there is only one that really is consistent through the history of the Bundesliga. If you want to win the Bundesliga you have to finish in front of Bayern Munich.
Even though they present themselves as a Bavarian team they have followers all over Germany. And you don’t have to be a Bavarian to be a Bayern supporter. They have more than 2000 supporters clubs around the world. Making them the most supported team in Germany.
They used to play in the famous Olympic stadium for many years but that was a rather cold environment with the athletic track around the playing field. Also the fact that not the whole stadium was covered and spectators had to sit outside in the cold and rain and snow with no roof was a major pain in the bum for the club.
So the need for a new stadium was there and because of the world cup coming to Germany Bayern Munich build a stadium together with their little local neighbours 1860 München. The total maximum capacity was first 66.000 but has been increased now up to 71.000 since august 2012. The stadium itself lights up in the colours of which team is playing a home game. Blue when 1860 München is playing, white when the German national team is playing and of course red when Bayern Munich is playing.
And to make things more complicated: the original colours from Bayern Munich are… blue and white. It was only later on that they changed the colours to red and white. But you still can see the original colours in the crest.
Another thing that maybe needs mentioning is the fact that in order to express their Bavarian origins the players travelled for a while dressed up like Bavarians including the “lederhosen”. That period the most liked song by the other supporters from other teams was ‘und wir ziehen die Bayern die Lederhosen aus”. Roughly translated this goes something like: “and we will pull the Bayern their “Lederhosen” out.” But to be honest I don’t know if they still sing this nowadays.
So far some interesting untold facts about Bayern Munich. We do know of course we have a few German lads at Arsenal. I can imagine Lukas Podolski feeling very motivated for this game. After his not completely successful spell at Bayern he surely will want to prove a point.
Wouldn’t it be sweet to have Podolski as the match winner? I have a feeling he will really celebrate scoring against them… Come on Lukas, just do it.
The books…
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Bring on Beyern, this could be a good day out too 😉
As long as Podolski plays, Bayern will win easily.
Podolski has underachieved everywhere he has been.
We want him off the national team, please.
@Mik The guy has a 1 in 2 goal scoring record for Germany?
Lol @ mik
Are you even German, mate? Or has the AAA started a German branch, perhaps?
Lukas Podolski is an awesome player. Over a hundred caps for Germany and counting says it all. But seriously, you probably never seen him play mate.
@Sav,Mik is journalist who predicted Arsenal’s downfall/crisis when they lost to Bradford in the penalties ;i really wonder forgetting that the Arsenal is in the big cup Champions League ! Do these whore-lists read,gather information or just dream to write?
The history of German football is very interesting and sometimes harrowing, Bayern were generally known as a Jewish club within Germany so you can imagine the troubles those peoples got around the early to mid 1900s. The owners had to flee Germany for their survival. I do like German football and am looking forward to our games against them. Job opportunity Walcott. Our pace will be a killer for them.