Bayern München vs Hamburger SV (6:0) (1.Bundesliga, 12. March 2011)
1:0 A. Robben (40.) 2:0 A. Robben (47.) 3:0 A. Robben (55.) 4:0 F. Ribéry (64.) 5:0 T. Müller (79.) 6:0 H. Westermann OG (85.)
Attendance: 69.000
Cost: 15 Euro
Programme: Not purchased
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| Approaching the stadium by car, quite an impressive sight |
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| Heading to the 'Ticket Canyon' to collect our tickets |
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| Paulanergarten, sounds like my cup of tea |
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| A few pre match Paulaners |
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| What is it with all this light and alcohol free beer at the stadiums? Can't a man get a real beer? |
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| A different way to advertise before the match! |
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| And the players head out of the tunnel |
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| Quite a few thousand fans travelled from Hamburg |
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| One of the few attacking raids Hamburg had, but to no avail |
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| Thankfully the misery was almost over for Hamburg as the lights come on |
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| Bayern fans celebrate six of the best |
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| I don't look very good in red and white! |
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| Goodbye Allianz Arena, i'm sure i'll see you again |
Bayern München is without doubt the premier club in German soccer, and one of the most powerful in the world. They are simultaneously the most loved and hated club in Germany...
Being rich, with some 65,000 members, huge marketing and sponsorship contracts, and continued success on the field, they are considered quite arrogant by everybody who is not a Bayern fan.
Bayern was the first club to really to take a full business approach. While the massive marketing and complete business orientation was a bit of a shock to many German fans, undoubtedly contributing to Bayern's unpopularity in those circles, it's nothing new to NFL or NBA followers here in the States.
The recent trend over the past 10 years is to basically buy whoever they want, offering sums that other clubs cannot hope to match. If they don't produce, they get rid of them quickly.
They are currently run by a bunch of ex-star players, foremost of which is club president Franz Beckenbauer. Others include Uli Hoeness, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Gerd Müller. The pressure to win is incredible, and many a famous coach has got the boot for failing to deliver. (The most recent case is Giovanni Trappatoni, on his second tour with Bayern, won the DFB Cup and finished runner-up. Despite public announcements otherwise, there is little doubt he was forced out.)
Still, it hard to knock success, and Bayern is the most successful German club. Founded in 1900, Bayern was a strong team in the 1930s, winning the championship in 1932. Among the star players from the 1920s-30s were Josef Pöttinger, Oskar Rohr (whose grandson Gernot would later play for Bayern), Josef Bergmaier and the best, Ludwig Goldbrunner, capped 39 times 1933-40.
After WW-II, Bayern remained a good club, but success was not forthcoming. They weren't even a founding member of the Bundesliga, but once they got promoted, they have been Germany's no. 1 powerhouse, although Mönchengladbach challenged them for a while, as Dortmund did in the mid 1990s. 13 titles from 1969-1997 speak to their success. And remember, this is the Bundesliga we're talking about, not some worthless league like Scotland where only two teams contend. So love 'em or hate 'em, Bayern is a winner - and everybody in Germany is envious, even though they won't admit it.
Great players are a matter-of-course for Bayern. Gerd "der Bomber" Müller is simply the greatest goalscorer the world has ever seen. Franz Beckenbauer was probably Germany's greatest ever player, even though he is a bit unpalatable in his role as president. Rummenigge, Breitner, Matthäus, Klinsmann, Sepp Maier, the list goes on.
The 1998-99 season could have been the most successful in history. After totally dominating the Bundesliga, Bayern gave up two last second goals against Manchester United to lose the Champions League final, and then lost on penalty kicks to Werder Bremen in the DFB Cup final. The next season looked like a walk in the park, and Bayern seemed to have things wrapped up by half way, having crunched rivals Bayer Leverkusen. However late season weakness and a great Leverkusen run had Bayern on the ropes. On the last day of the season, Bayern needed tiny Unterhaching, a club that had previously received financial aid from Bayern, to defeat Leverkusen. The Muenchen suburbanites obliged sensationally, while Bayern dutifully crushed their opponents, handing Bayern the title once more. To finish things off, they also kicked Werder's ass in the DFB Cup final.
2000-01 would prove to be a return to glory. Despite struggling in the league, Bayern toughed it out, nipping Schalke for the title on an injury time goal. Then a few days later, they crowned the season by "defeating" Valencia on penalties in the Champions League final. GK Oliver Kahn was the hero in this boring affair, stopping three penalties. Despite this turgid performance, no one could argue that Bayern didn't deserve the title, as they eliminated the previous Champs Manchester United and Real Madrid in convincing fashion. The next season was poor by Bayern standards, despite winning the Intercontinental Cup, they only managed 3rd place. In 2003, they steamrollered the rest of the Bundesliga, essentially wrapping up the title by mid season, but fared poorly in Europe. They repeated the feat in the 2004/05 season. After a poor 2007, Frenchman Franck Ribery surprisingly came on board, and Bayern recovered to dominate and win another title.
The 2008-09 season was forgettable, as Bayern failed on almost all fronts. A lot of the blame fell on the shoulders of debut coach Jürgen Klinsmann, who failed to light a fire under the champs, and eventually got his ass canned. (The last straw was an embarrassing 0-4 loss to Barcelona in the Champions League. Not so much the loss, but the gutless performance.) Most clubs wouldn't worry too much about 2nd, but not Bayern. As a result, Dutchman Louis van Gaal was brought in to coach next season, and the club spent lavishly, inlcuding a record 30 million euros for Stuttgart striker Mario Gomez. After a slow start, the club brought in Dutch midfielder Arjen Robben, who combined with Frank Ribery to make a devastating duo. Bayern was unstoppable, taking the double, and even advancing to the Champions League final.
HONOURS:
* German Champions
o Winner (22) (record): 1931–32, 1968–69, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2007–08, 2009–10
* DFB-Pokal
o Winner (15) (record): 1957, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010
* DFB Liga-Pokal
o Winner (6) (record): 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2007
* DFB-Supercup
o Winner (4) (record shared with two other clubs): 1982, 1987, 1990, 2010
* UEFA Champions League / European Cup
o Winner (4): 1974, 1975, 1976, 2001
o Runners-up (4): 1982, 1987, 1999, 2010
* UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
o Winner (1): 1967
* UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup
o Winner (1): 1996
* Intercontinental Cup
o Winner (2): 1976, 2001
STADIUM HISTORY: (wiki)
The Allianz Arena is a football stadium in the north of Munich, Germany. The two professional Munich football clubs FC Bayern Munich and TSV 1860 München have played their home games at Allianz Arena since the start of the 2005–06 season. Both clubs had previously played their home games at the Munich Olympic Stadium since 1972, where FC Bayern Munich played all of their games and TSV 1860 München most of their games.
The stadium is located at the northern edge of Munich's borough of Schwabing on the Fröttmaning Heath. It is the first stadium in the world that has a full changing color outside.
Effective with the city's approval of modifications that was granted January 16, 2006, the legal capacity of the stadium has increased from 66,000 to 69,901 spectators (including standing room). The lower tier can seat up to 20,000, the middle tier up to 24,000, and the upper tier up to 22,000. 10,400 of the seats in the lower tier corners can be converted to standing room to allow an additional 3,120 spectators. The total capacity includes 2,000 business seats, 400 seats for the press, 106 luxury boxes with seating for up to 174 and 165 berths for wheelchairs and the like. From the second half of the 2005-06 Bundesliga season, the arena is able to accommodate 69,901 spectators at league and German Cup games, but because of UEFA regulations, the capacity remains at 66,000 seats for UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup games. Bayern Munich has limited capacity during their league and cup games to 69,000. The partial roof covers all seats, although winds can still blow rain onto some of them.
Allianz Arena also offers three day-care centers, two fan shops, the FC Bayern Munich Megastore and the TSV 1860 München Allianz Arena Megastore. Merchandise is offered at stands all along the inside of the exterior wall inside the area behind the seats. Numerous restaurants and fast food establishments are also located around the stadium.
There are four team locker rooms (one each for the two home teams and their respective opponents), four coaches' locker rooms and two locker rooms for referees. Two areas are provided where athletes can warm up (approx. 110 m² each). There are also 550 toilets and 190 monitors in the arena.
The large financial services provider, Allianz purchased the rights to name the stadium for 30 years. During the 2006 World Cup it was known as FIFA World Cup Stadium Munich.
The stadium will be the venue for the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final.
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