Four clubs of two nationalities fought for a spot at Wembley to land the coveted Champions League. The favorites were two teams who fight the El Classico and are probably the most talked about teams in club football. The results though were quite against the odds and it was the Germans who crashed the Spanish party to signal what could be a shift in the soccer power center. You wouldn't bet for both Real Madrid and Barcelona being knocked out of the semis of this prestigious tourney. While Real did show some fight against Dortmund in their home leg, Barca were completely outclassed after conceding four and three goals respectively away and home. May be this is just a blip on the radar for the two mighty squads but it has all the makings of a storm. Real have now lost out at the last four stage three years in a row and the Messi magic seems to be on the wane for their biggest domestic rivals. With the "special one" likely to give up the reigns, one would only wonder how long before his protege Ronaldo follows suit. There is trouble brewing and one can just hope it blows away for the sake of the premiere club competition of the world still carrying its premier billing.
The 2000 humiliation made the Germans go back to the drawing board and the results have shown. The Bundesliga is one of the few top notch leagues in Europe to have a lower than 25% foreign recruit number. While the English and Spanish leagues strut their stuff with imports from all over the world, the Germans have perfected a system of getting local talent through efficiently. Both Bayern and Borussia showcased that with aplomb to get to the finals. While B. Munich are no strangers to this stage of the competition, their rivals for the grand finale have been a surprise. With a colorful coach in Jurgen Klopp, they have managed to upstage much more fancied rivals including Manchester City. They would again go into the May 26 final as under dogs but with having reached so far, they would do every bit to match Jupp Heynckes' side. With Arjen Robben and Muller firing on all cylinders, Borussia would look to Lewandowski to recreate the magic that enabled them in beating Real 4-0.
The clinical and efficient German system has reaped big rewards both for their domestic league teams as well as the national side. It remains to be seen if the results can replicate themselves for some years and bring some more silver ware to the soccer crazy nation. Meanwhile, its a mouth watering clash between two attacking sides waiting for us in a couple of weeks at the hallowed stadium in England. Kann das beste team gewinnen.
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