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Real deals Munich, Valencia power way to Champions League final
Updated: Thursday May 10, 2001 11:51 AM
Whatever your opinion of Bayern Munich -- dogged and determined avengers or defensive-minded bores -- there is no disputing the Champions League title credentials of a team that can twice beat Real Madrid and Manchester United. Their Bundesliga form was so erratic at the time of the quarterfinals that runaway English League champion Manchester United was expected to take care of them with aplomb. When Bayern emerged with a 3-1 aggregate victory, many observers believed reigning European champions and La Liga leaders Real would account for Ottmar Hitzfeld's team. Another 1-0 away win. Another 2-1 home victory. Real was out. Bayern is in the final. "We beat Madrid twice -- that's a sensational performance," declared Hitzfeld after the second leg triumph in the Olympic Stadium. "With all of our missing or injured players, it's a miracle."
Stefan Effenberg, Bayern's midfield maestro, was the most notable absentee through suspension. A Canadian-born England under-21 international by the name of Owen Hargreaves replaced him and, according to his coach, "played the match of his life" on his Champions League debut. But then almost all the Bayern players, however great or small their part, have stepped up at the most crucial stage of the Champions League season, appreciating that reputation alone doesn't win the European Cup, that reputation alone wouldn't beat them. The Germans damaged a few reputations and established several of their own in eliminating Real and Man Utd in such remarkably clinical fashion. It's foolish to publicly underestimate the perceived underdog. After Real's first leg defeat, German media reports claimed the Madrid giants had called Bayern's win "lucky" and insisted they, Real, were clearly the better side. A true translation or not, it was the perfect inspiration for the German champions.
"It hurt my team's pride. That was the biggest motivation. I didn't have to say much," said Hitzfeld. Motivation which has carried Bayern to their seventh champions final against Valencia in Milan, Italy on May 23. The Spanish team, similarly sturdy in defense, has also been given scant credit for a magnificent run to a second successive final. Outside of fiercely loyal Valencia and the Spanish club's supporters near-and-far, I got the sense that the overwhelming opinion was that last season's runners-up would come unstuck somewhere along the way. You know that line: "They surely can't do it again." It's said with the intent of making a categorical statement and comes out with a semi-quizzical tone, as if the words "can they?" are about to follow. I heard it a lot. Heck, I doubtless said it. But Valencia are in European club football's elite game again and are every bit as deserving of that honor as Bayern. It's a fabulous feat. At a time when winning domestic league titles can be old hat for the likes of Real Madrid and Manchester United, the rich and glamorous duo have been given a lesson this season in peaking for the grand occasion. Bayern Munich and Valencia have delivered the lesson with passion, drive and a tactical prowess which leaves them just one win way from the one crown all of Europe covets. You might not always like their style. You might wish for more flair, like Real's Steve McManaman when he suggested before the second leg in Munich that the European Cup-winning side should be more pleasing to the eye -- that Bayern's tactics in the first leg somehow made them unworthy. But each team has to play to its strengths. Not every club can be Brazil circa 1970. Bayern and Valencia have simply played to their strengths better than anyone else. Phil Jones is co-host of World Sport, the international sports show that airs live on CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNN International.
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