The morning after, Thomas Muller’s emotional state was still a beer-hazed jumble of jubilation, disbelief and exhaustion. “What a wild ride,” he told The Athletic. “It’s really very, very nice.” The 30-year-old sounded just like an ordinary Bayern supporter talking about their nervy 1-0 win over Paris Saint-Germain. And that’s fitting — because Muller himself happens to be one of the biggest fans of this extraordinary side.
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“We are a crazy bunch of guys from A to Z, always willing to help each other out, with incredible togetherness,” the roving shadow striker had said after the final whistle in a TV interview with ZDF, stopping himself before “getting too cheesy” in his praise. Manuel Neuer, another of the five veterans who had just won a second European Cup with Bayern (Jerome Boateng, David Alaba and Javi Martinez started in the 2013 triumph), went down a similarly sentimental route. “This is maybe the most fun I have ever had playing with a team,” said Neuer. Joshua Kimmich, the makeshift right-back and provider of the cross for Kingsley Coman’s goal, even referred to some of his team-mates as “brothers” with whom winning a major trophy had been a dream come true.
Much has already been said and written about the role of coach Hansi Flick as a superb communicator, expert team-builder and genuinely nice guy who made everyone feel valued and appreciated. On Sunday night, it was apparent once more that the 55-year-old had so obviously succeeded where Niko Kovac had failed: the whole squad were united in their drive towards the common goal of the treble, edging each other on, on the pitch and from the sidelines. Club officials noted that Lucas Hernandez, the €80 million defender still looking to tie down a regular slot, was one of the main party instigators after the final whistle.
As the former assistant of Joachim Low, Flick knew all too well that the difference between success and failure at this level could come down to good-old-fashioned team-spirit, the basic fuel without which a finely tuned pressing and running machine such as Bayern can’t hope to run smoothly. At the European Championships in 2012, the German national team were plagued by Bayern-Dortmund infighting and unhappy squad players angling for starting places. After a hugely troubling semi-final exit at the hands of Italy, Low and his staff set upon a giant team-building exercise that culminated in an intentionally “diverse” bungalow-sharing arrangement at the fabled Campo Bahia base camp in Brazil. “I don’t think we would have won the World Cup without it,” Per Mertesacker said later, the golden trophy in tow.
After the Barcelona win and again on Sunday, Flick tellingly kept referring back to Bayern’s winter training camp in Doha in January as the spiritual origin of their nearly flawless calendar year (one draw, 25 wins). “Our hard work there and the boys’ willingness to pull in the same direction made us think we could achieve something big this year,” he said.
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The erstwhile caretaker manager’s human touch, agreeable attacking tactics and unstoppable winning streak all helped in the creation of a strong team spirit. But that’s not the whole story, as far as motivation goes. “Bayern also benefitted from interesting dressing-room dynamics,” a source close to the players suggests. “You had the remnants of the 2013 team (Muller, Boateng, Neuer, Alaba, Martinez) and the guys born in the mid-90s — Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka, Niklas Sule and Joshua Kimmich — who hadn’t won a big international title yet.
“The first group were desperate to do it once more, having spent seven long years chasing the trophy in vain, while the second one understood they needed to do it in the Champions League to be considered real greats. As soon as their performances in the competition improved in late autumn to the point that they felt they were among the contenders, the two groups really bonded over this common goal and swept everyone else along.”
Unlike the 2001 and 2013 sides, who had needed the jolt of traumatic final defeats in 1999 and 2012 to get over the line, this side did it at the first attempt and in unprecedented style. “We had this feeling of being unbeatable,” Kimmich said.
But at Bayern, winning it all can only ever be the prelude to winning it all again. There’s a strong sense that this is only the beginning for a side that’s still developing in some positions and will feature Leroy Sane on the wings next season.
In addition to the might of Europe’s elite, Flick’s men will also be up against the club’s historic achievements in the next couple of years. Their place in the record books is certain but to be considered the best Bayern team ever, they will have to become the first side in modern times to repeat the multiple wins of the mid-1970s greats Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Muller, Sepp Maier et al.
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“Our target is to reduce the intervals between European titles,” said executive chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge when Pep Guardiola was in charge. They are broadly on course to do that. It took Bayern 25 years to lift a fourth European Cup, 12 to add a fifth and seven to make it six. If they can keep up the current rate, they will be winning it again in 2023, when the final happens to be in Munich and coincides with Muller and Neuer’s last season (as things stand).
In the meantime, the emphasis will remain on keeping the existing squad together and ensuring Bayern will remain a destination club for their players, not a stopover. They will continue to afford big wages in that regard, but the fall-out from COVID-19 has reduced Bayern’s manoeuvrability in the transfer market this summer. Their initial plan to target Kai Havertz as their second strategic addition after Sane this summer had to be shelved months ago, a forced decision that might well come to bug them if Bayer Leverkusen’s creative light fulfils his vast potential elsewhere.
A young attacking right-back remains a top priority in the short-term. Flick would also like to have four wingers to cope with the expected workload in 2020-21’s crammed fixture list. In place of other affordable alternatives, the German champions will try to convert Ivan Perisic’s loan from Inter Milan into a permanent deal.
Any additional dealings will depend on departures. Boateng is likely to stick around, given his status as an extremely reliable centre-back with one year left on his contract. Alaba, who is in the same position, is yet to agree on an extension. The Austrian has hired “super-agent” Pini Zahavi with a view to a possible move to Barcelona, but the Catalans are cash-strapped and in need of a rebuild that may not appeal to him.
So far, Alaba has also shown himself wholly uninterested in a move to the Premier League, where several clubs have enquired for his services. Bayern remain hopeful that the 28-year-old’s strong connections with the club he joined as a teenager from Vienna 12 years ago will persuade him to stay. But there is a concern that Zahavi is merely playing for time to run down Alaba’s contract and make him a much more saleable (as well as lucrative) proposition in 2021.
It’s been noted that all of the former Israeli journalist’s “secret meetings” (Bild’s words) with Bayern bosses in recent weeks have unfailingly found their way into the tabloid back pages and Sky Sports News bulletins. Flick’s reliance on Alaba as his defensive organiser could see the club take the risk of losing him for free next season if no compromise can be found.
With Thiago, it’s slightly different. The board have decided that the Spaniard will be sold this summer after stepping back from a contract extension. Under normal circumstances, Europe’s fourth-richest club (by way of income) might have been relaxed about the Spaniard leaving on a free transfer next summer at the age of 30. But in coronavirus times, they can’t afford to be as cavalier financially. Thiago will be allowed to leave if suitors pay a minimum of €30 million (£27 million). In Munich, they continue to strongly expect Liverpool to make an approach but are yet to receive an official bid from Merseyside.
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Sunday night’s masterful showing by the midfielder was likely to be his last. Among some of his media critics, resistance to his elegant ways has remained insuperable and categorical, like a life-threatening peanut allergy. The club do understand, however, that there is no replacement for his ability among the existing squad or in the transfer market. Flick will entrust BFFs Leon Goretzka and Kimmich to control the centre, with the gravity of Bayern’s attacking play shifting more towards the flanks after Sane’s arrival. In Corentin Tolisso and Mickael Cuisance, they have depth, if not Thiago’s exquisite passing skills.
Whether all of that is enough to become only the second team after Real Madrid to defend a Champions League title is hard to say: Bayern weren’t just very well-coached and highly motivated, they also had a bit of luck in key moments in all the Lisbon games. Their good fortune extended to the injury table, too. But conversely, they are also the one “super-club” who do not require a major overhaul or serious investment this summer, which speaks to their much-improved squad planning over the last few years. With former goalkeeper Oliver Kahn poised to take over as the club CEO from Rummenigge in a year, succession at board room level is set to be smooth too.
Kahn’s motto as a player was “keep going”, which is why he’s seen as the ideal operator to carry on Bayern’s unquenchable quest for success. Combined with lots of money, tons of football competence and Flick’s humanity, it makes for a pretty powerful concoction.
(Photo: Matt Childs/Pool via Getty Images)
Munich-born Raphael Honigstein has lived in London since 1993. He writes about German football and the Premier League. Follow Raphael on Twitter @honigstein
