Dortmund underdogs in Champions League final
Dortmund near European supremacy
It’s virtually impossible not to take a shine to Jurgen Klopp. Slightly dishevelled-looking in a preppy sort of way. With those black thick-stemmed glasses, that arty stubble, the sweeping dirty blond hair, he could pass for that second-year university chem professor all the guys in class considered a bit of an oddball and the girls, for whatever reason, thought was hot.
An intriguing fellow, this Klopp. A man who wrote his sport science thesis on the topic of “Walking” and who, after his Dortmund side beat mighty Bayern in their home park for the first time in two decades a while back, said: “When we last won in Munich, most of these players were still on breast milk.”
Wonderfully animated on the touchline, adored by his players and a quote-ravenous football press, the 41-year-old has long been a cult favourite in Germany, steering Borussia Dortmund from the verge of bankruptcy upon arrival from second-tier FSV Mainz in 2008 to the pinnacle of the Bundesliga two years running, in 2011 and 2012, a refreshing antidote to Bayern’s money and might.
He even inspired a pop song, I Wanna Be Like Jurgen Klopp, by comedian/singer Matze Knop, a typically techno mix of German and English, after pipping Munich to the title three seasons ago.
Now, against all logic, he has his side on the cusp of European supremacy. And so, suddenly, Jurgen Klopp, the culties’ darling, has gone mainstream.
The first all-German final in Champions League/European Cup history, worth $14 million Cdn to the winner, kicks off Saturday at London’s New Wembley, teeming with subplots. OK, it may not have the pull that two English sides would provide, given the venue. It doesn’t have Messi, or Ronaldo, or Jose Mourinho strutting energetically along the touchline.
But Bayern are indisputably the most complete 11 on the planet right now, while Dortmund, inspired by Klopp’s design, play some absolutely wonderful stuff.
Dortmund may be the team to cheer for, but Bayern is the heavy betting favourite. The Bavarians’ lineup is littered with household names (Muller, Schweinsteiger, Ribery, Robben, Neuer, Gomez, Lahm) and they’ve bulldozed through a chillingly dominant domestic season, compiling a 29-1-4 record, a full 25 points ahead of Klopp and Co.
“This is why I play for Bayern,” Schweinsteiger told Goal.com. “We want to win, no matter who stands in our way. If we live up to our potential, it is very difficult to beat us. Whether we win or not is up to us.”
Beaten finalists two of the past three years, with 68-yearold manager Jupp Heyckes set to exit after the season to make way for Pep Guardiola and a famous treble still in the cards, Munich, too, is loaded with motivation.
“If you look at the results of Bayern Munich this season, they basically destroyed anyone in a heartbeat — anyone but us,” Klopp said in an interview with the Daily Mirror. “This is what matters now.
“We’ve always fought back, even if we weren’t in the best shape in some matches.
“When we are in our best condition — and this is the only thing we really need to talk about — we can beat Bayern Munich. We know this and so do they. But we have to make it come true now.”
Unfortunately for Klopp, he’ll have to make do without midfield string-puller Mario Gotze, at 20 the bright young thing of German football, unavailable due to a hamstring issue suffered in the semifinal upset of Real Madrid. Amping up the pain, Gotze will be also be a Munich player next year, Bayern triggering a $48-million buyout clause in his contract.
And win or lose Saturday, Goetz won’t be the only star departing from Dortmund. Polish international striker Robert Lewandowski, who torched Madrid and set Mourinho on his way to Chelsea with a stunning hat trick in the 4-1 first-leg pounding, is most surely on his way, too.
Welcome to Jurgen Klopp’s world. Even as European champion.
“Bayern want a decade of success like Barca,” he said recently.
“That’s OK if you have the money because it increases the possibility of success. But it’s not guaranteed. We are not a supermarket but they want our players because they know we cannot pay them the same money.
“If that’s what Bayern wants ... It’s like James Bond — except they are the other guy (the villain).”
In scintillating style, Bayern only tore apart the world’s greatest club side, Barcelona, shredding that famously intricate tiki-taka style with bold, decisive power strokes by an unfathomable aggregate score line of 7-0. They’ll be looking to join Liverpool at five European titles, trailing only Madrid, at nine, and AC Milan, at seven.
They’re the wealthy gentry to Dortmund’s scruffy upstarts.
And Jurgen Klopp, at least publicly, quite relishes it that way.
“We are a club, not a company,” he said, “but it depends on which kind of story the neutral fan wants to hear. If he respects the story of Bayern, and how much they have won since the 1970s, he can support them. But if he wants the new story, the special story, it must be Dortmund. I think, in this moment in the football world, you have to be on our side.”
Unlike many finals contested by domestic rivals that turn into tight affairs, Saturday’s big occasion promises not to be dragged down by familiarity.
“We have never adapted to our opponents, neither have Bayern, so why should we do it now?” Klopp challenged. “Just because it’s a final?”
Win at Wembley, despite the loss of Gotze, the soon-to-be-defecting stars, defying Munich’s money and might, if only for one unforgettable night, and complete the impossible dream that began with the hiring of a slightly dishevelled (in a preppy sort of way) guy five years ago. That’s the mission.
Beat Bayern on Europe’s biggest stage and not only German techno pop singer/comedian Matze Knop will want to be like Jurgen Klopp.
We all will.