Beckenbauer, Book, Breitner, Beer, Booth and Bell would have graced this fixture 40 years ago, but what of today's crop?
Any Bayern Munchen versus Manchester City match represents an obvious opportunity to jump onto the sofa with the delectable Susie Schaaf, raconteur, writer, barmaid, wit, philosopher queen and -- for the purposes of this particular moment in the football calendar -- expert on every single thing to do with Die Roten. DTKS asked her a question or two.
DTKS Guardiola’s
status with the Bayern fans. Can he do no wrong or are there still doubters? SC - There are still many, many doubters in Germany—
and perhaps to a lesser degree outside of the country. It’s strange that last year’s domestic double
for Bayern could be considered a disappointment, but to many, it is. The home loss to Real Madrid in the Champions
League semi-final was an embarrassment, nation-wide.
In the beginning of his tenure he insisted that he’d
coach to his players’ strengths but has done anything but. That, coupled with the influx of Spanish
players-- leading German newspaper TZ took to calling them “Espanyol Bayern” recently--
has tarnished the image of the man “that can do no wrong”.
Tommy Booth in European action in Germany. v. Schalke 1970 |
DTKS Bayern’s
targets this year: domestic or a renewed assault on the top of the Champions
league?
SC - Domestic titles will probably
come as they do (and that sounds so obnoxious, doesn’t it?) but Bayern—if they
do win the Bundesliga—certainly won’t do it by 25, or 19, points this season. Leverkusen and Borussia Dortmund will
challenge greatly. That being said, the
onus is on Guardiola to get to the Champions League final. While I don’t think Bayern would fire him, I’m
inclined to think he would opt out of his contract if that doesn’t happen.
DTKS How
is the club coping without the guiding hand of Uli Hoeness?
SC - I think the club is such an engine now that losing
Hoeness is not the be-all-end-all. That
being said, loyalists miss him dearly (myself included) and we all secretly
hope he can manage the prison team to at least the 3. Bundesliga by the time he’s
released. And that he gets to eat ice
cream.
I don’t know, however, with Hoeness on board, that
the Toni Kroos to Real Madrid deal would have gone through. In the end, though, looking at Xabi Alonso to
Munich? Bayern might have gotten the
better end of the deal.
Both
City and Bayern have left their old homes behind to move into modern, slightly
soulless stadia. Does anybody still miss the Olympiastadion and how do folk
consider this era of dominance in contrast to other periods of supremacy in the
past? The Olympiastadion, to me, is even more soulless than the Allianz
Arena—with seats acres away from the pitch and exposed fully to the
elements. And although the Allianz is
massive—and kind of a pain in the butt to get to—regardless of where you’re at,
you feel like you’re right on top of the action.
This incarnation of Bayern is
definitely on par with the mid 70’s one, but not quite there in the minds of many. That 70’s squad, with three
successive Champions League titles, plus a World Cup just pips the current Bayern—but
a great show in this season’s Champions League competition would go a long way
to changing minds.
Bayern’s
reaction to drawing City yet again. We were new acquaintances in European
football four years ago. Now we are sick of the sight of each other! Funny, huh? A collective groan was heard around the world when Bayern drew Manchester
City once again. It even got worse as
CSKA Moscow ended up in the group. You
could make a valid statement that UEFA should allow teams from the same country
to be drawn together and then perhaps the groups might end up
differently. But, with the seeding the
way it is? All I can say is, “Hello,
again!”
Is
there a feeling that City are becoming more dangerous or will Bayern be
confident of topping the group? There’s
definitely a feeling that City are more dangerous this season than before. And that-- along with a nasty away trip to
Russia and Pot 4’s toughest member, AS Roma—means Bayern can’t be wholly
confident in topping the group. Although,
I’d agree with the punters and say both the Sky Blues and the Reds go through.
Which
current players would get in the great Bayern side of Beckenbauer and Muller? Huh. Great
question! For an example, I’ll take the
starting XI of Bayern-Leeds United in 1975’s Championship match. I’ll keep Sepp Maier in goal only because
Manuel Neuer would be superfluous with Franz Beckenbauer as sweeper. I’d swap out Bjorn Andersson on the right for
Jerome Boateng, leave Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck in the middle, and take out
Bernd Durnberger for David Alaba in defense.
In midfield, Franz Roth and Rainer Zobel would
make way for Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger, respectively, while Jupp
Kapellmann would keep his place on the left. And the attack would comprise of Arjen Robben for Conny Torstensson on
the right, Franck Ribery for Uli Hoeness on the left, and no one can ever
replace Gerd Mueller. EVER.
Bayern’s
summer purchases – your view? Bayern were
extremely lucky to get Robert Lewandowski and Sebastain Rode for free. Lewandowski, arguably one of the top strikers
in world, especially. But in Rode,
Bayern also receives a more than capable holding midfielder that has mightily
impressed so far this season—much to the surprise of many.
Juan Bernat from Valencia has continued to grow,
while Mehdi Benatia is set to make his debut against Manchester City now that
Holger Badstuber is injured once again.
I admit to being puzzled over Pepe Reina’s
transfer from Liverpool, as I don’t think he’ll see much time between the
sticks—but I’m inclined to think that he was brought in to spice up Neuer’s
competitive edge more than anything else. But, hey! Bayern has a great
back-up should one be necessary.
I was surprised over the Xabi Alonso switch from
Real Madrid, and was of the mind that Guardiola should maybe have concentrated
on promoting youth and letting the kids play. But, two matches have completely turned me around from that train of thought. Alonso hadn’t been with the club for 24 hours
before Guardiola asked him to start against Schalke—and only getting one
practice in with the team—he was one of the few positives to take away from the
eventual draw. This weekend saw him
start, again, against Stuttgart where he had the most touches and ran the
farthest of any Bayern player on the pitch. With Toni Kroos’ play at Real Madrid so far this
season? I believe that Alonso was a
steal.
City
won rather surprisingly at the Allianz last season and were one goal away from
putting Bayern into runners-up spot. Prediction this time? 3-1 to Bayern. And Pellegrini learns his maths.
Final
group placings and your tip for eventual winners? Bayern needs this win at home as much as City
needs theirs in the return. The CSKA
matches are a wash, but Roma might be able to sneak in front of either Bayern
or City if the pair are not careful.
Hmmmm… I’m
going to go with Bayern winning the group (dependent on the aforementioned matches)
with City going through, as well. Roma
in third (not for valiant efforts) and Moscow goes home.
Last question. The big one. As an absolute expert in all things frothy and amber, what should City fans be drinking in Munich? Augustiner!
***
So there you have it. Thanks, Susie, for your time and let's hope for a repeat of last year. Naturally enough you can follow Susie on Twitter
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