fc bayern vs. ac milan: 0-2...
I'm back home from watching CL with my uncle and I've come to the following conclusion:
Having arrived at this particular point, the CL quarterfinals against AC Milan, was the best Bayern could have hoped for this season. They did all they could and got a fair reward.
I mean, think about what the squad looked like at the beginning of this season. With Ismaël injured and Ballack, Lizarazu, Deisler, Jeremies and Zé Roberto gone, Bayern lacked six experienced players who weren't only well-practiced and had the technical abilities for international matches but also worked as stabilizers inside the squad. They were replaced by young players, who definitely have the talent but not the experience, and who - most important of all - did not work together as a team because they lacked practice. The team as such had broken down. With the aftermath of the World Cup and the burn-out phase that affected every World Cup player (some sooner than others), Magath was incapable of repairing it. Some World Cup players are still running after their former shape and there's no end in sight. Things might have been easier for Hitzfeld now, had he been employed before the winter break, but I won't get into speculation here. He's here now and we're definitely on our way up - but the goal is still very far away.
Fact is that we achieved what we could achieve within reason and failed where we had to fail. Milan was the better team for 140 minutes in those two matches, and whereas in the first leg, we were lucky to turn our only two chances into goals, luck was on Milan's side this time. Two chances, two goals. (The second was offside, but maybe the referee remembered Gilardino's goal of the first leg and thought of Inzaghi's as some sort of retribution for that.) Maybe that's why the fact that we just got kicked out of the Champions League hurts me a lot less than when Aachen kicked us out of the DFB Cup. Milan demonstrated us our limits. We can't do anything but nod quietly, accept the lesson and promise to work harder next time. It's not class we're lacking - it's a team, and one that's willing to go to extremes to achieve what they validly claim. And some strikers. Or did you see any Bayern strikers on the pitch today?
I'm feeling sorry for my future husband Daniel van Awesome, though. His two wonderful goals from the first leg were made worthless within about five minutes.
But seriously? Bayern has to make it into the Champions League next season. They might not be the best German club at this very moment, but they're the one (and apparently the only) to really promote Germany in international competition. True, we only made it to the quarterfinals - but then again, if I remember correctly, Germany sent three clubs into the Champions League at the beginning of this season. So there.
Having arrived at this particular point, the CL quarterfinals against AC Milan, was the best Bayern could have hoped for this season. They did all they could and got a fair reward.
I mean, think about what the squad looked like at the beginning of this season. With Ismaël injured and Ballack, Lizarazu, Deisler, Jeremies and Zé Roberto gone, Bayern lacked six experienced players who weren't only well-practiced and had the technical abilities for international matches but also worked as stabilizers inside the squad. They were replaced by young players, who definitely have the talent but not the experience, and who - most important of all - did not work together as a team because they lacked practice. The team as such had broken down. With the aftermath of the World Cup and the burn-out phase that affected every World Cup player (some sooner than others), Magath was incapable of repairing it. Some World Cup players are still running after their former shape and there's no end in sight. Things might have been easier for Hitzfeld now, had he been employed before the winter break, but I won't get into speculation here. He's here now and we're definitely on our way up - but the goal is still very far away.
Fact is that we achieved what we could achieve within reason and failed where we had to fail. Milan was the better team for 140 minutes in those two matches, and whereas in the first leg, we were lucky to turn our only two chances into goals, luck was on Milan's side this time. Two chances, two goals. (The second was offside, but maybe the referee remembered Gilardino's goal of the first leg and thought of Inzaghi's as some sort of retribution for that.) Maybe that's why the fact that we just got kicked out of the Champions League hurts me a lot less than when Aachen kicked us out of the DFB Cup. Milan demonstrated us our limits. We can't do anything but nod quietly, accept the lesson and promise to work harder next time. It's not class we're lacking - it's a team, and one that's willing to go to extremes to achieve what they validly claim. And some strikers. Or did you see any Bayern strikers on the pitch today?
I'm feeling sorry for my future husband Daniel van Awesome, though. His two wonderful goals from the first leg were made worthless within about five minutes.
But seriously? Bayern has to make it into the Champions League next season. They might not be the best German club at this very moment, but they're the one (and apparently the only) to really promote Germany in international competition. True, we only made it to the quarterfinals - but then again, if I remember correctly, Germany sent three clubs into the Champions League at the beginning of this season. So there.