World Soccer - UK (2020-12)

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

BAYERN MUNICH

Aiming to defend their crown

History says that the reigning European
champions will find it tough to repeat
last term’s lap of honour. Dynasties are
not easily forged at this level. Since the
turn of the century, only one club – Real

Madrid in 2016, 2017 and 2018 – have

managed to claim consecutive titles.

CanBayernbuckthetrend?It’sfar

from impossible. Apart from Liverpool

midfielder Thiago Alcantara, all their

main men remain on board and it could

be argued that their squad is now even

stronger. German international stopper

Niklas Sule should be operational again

after being sidelined for the best part

of a year with damaged cruciate knee

ligaments, while newly-arrived winger

Leroy Sane, a€45 million acquisition

from Manchester City, is just one more

attacking thoroughbred in the stable.

With Robert Lewandowski, Serge

Gnabry, Kingsley Coman, Thomas Muller

and Sane on the books, the Bavarians

shouldhavenotroubleatallfinding

the back of the net.

Full credit to coach Hansi Flick. When

he took over from the sacked Niko

Kovac a year ago, the Bayern dressing

room was in foment, grumbling and

distracted. But it would not take long for

the former Germany assistant boss to

restore order and enthusiasm. Suddenly

everyone in the dressing room was back

on-message.

As though Flick had waved a magic

wand, Bayern swiftly resumed normal

service, racking up win upon win. Their

Champions League record last season

was especially majestic:11 games,11

wins and only behind on the scoreboard

for a mere14 minutes.

Is Hansi Flick correct when he insists

that Bayern can still improve?

Well, he should know. According to him,

his side needs to be better in its ball

circulation, looking to play with more

control and cutting out unnecessary

possession breakdowns. The Bayern

squad only has an average age of

25.3 years. Many of their players

have bags of untapped potential.

Will the departure of midfield

metronome Thiago to Liverpool

have negative consequences?

The loss of the Spanish international

midfielder does leave a hole. No doubt

about it. Bayern will definitely miss his

extraordinary ball-manipulation. He’s an

artist, rhythm controller and virtuoso.

For seven years, he added an extra

dimension to Bayern’s play. On the

other side of the coin, he was

rather injury-prone in Bavaria.

Is there enough cover for the
goal-hungry Lewandowski?
Should Lewandowski be sidelined for
any length of time, Bayern will have a
problem, though not an insurmountable
one. They have a superb young back-up
goal getter in DutchmanJoshua Zirkzee
and in such an emergency, could also
switch Serge Gnabry or Thomas Muller
to a line-leading brief.
Goal machine...Last season’s Champions League top scorer is hungry for more glory

COACH

Hansi Flick

Incredible to think

that just 18 months

ago, Flick was in

the unemployment

line, informed by

Hoffenheim that they

no longer required

his services as

director of sport.

What a turnaround.

KEY MAN

Robert

Lewandowski

At the age of 32,

the Poland hitman is

in the prime of his

sporting life. The

evidence?55goals

in all competitions

last season, including

awhopping15inthe

Champions League.

YOUNGSTER

TO WATCH

Jamal Musiala

Bright as a button

English-German

attacking midfielder,

who scored his first

goal as a professional

in September. The

17-year-old is now

Bayern Munich’s

youngest-ever

marksman.