Most American soccer fans, when they look at European soccer, they pay closest attention to England and Spain (and then one person that pays attention to Norway). The headline teams are those in London and Manchester, Madrid and Barcelona. This year’s top two teams, however, don’t fit that profile.
The semi-finals of this year’s Champions League featured two Spanish teams against two German teams. I think the common consensus was that the two Spanish teams Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, would roll over those from Germany, Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. Instead, it was quite the opposite. Madrid and Barcelona were blown out of the water. The only people that weren’t surprised were Germans.
German soccer is unique in that the teams are fiscally responsible, profitable and very successful. They don’t spend outside of their means, but there is a great deal of domestic talent, so they aren’t handcuffed by the financial restraint.
You would think, then, that the top two teams in Germany, the two best teams in Europe this season, would be very similar. That is not the case. Bayern Munich is 25 points clear of Borussia Dortmund. Borussia Dortmund is in 2nd place, and they are 25 points behind Munich. They are also 25 points ahead of FSV Mainz. Mainz is in 13th place.
Munich has a roster stacked with the top names off the German National Team, like Mario Gomez (I know, I know) Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Thomas Muller.They are also home to several top non-German Europeans, which makes them unique in Germany. Some of those big names are France’s Franck Ribeiry, the Netherlands’ Arjen Robben, Austria’s David Alaba, Switzerland’s Xherdan Shaqiri and the Ukraine’s Anatoliy Tymoshchuk.
Bayern also has a player ready to join them next year. Mario Gotze. He is presently the best player for Dortmund. What I’m trying to say, if you haven’t gathered, is that Bayern Munich is a better team than Dortmund. They should win in London tomorrow afternoon, with no problems whatsoever.
