Is anyone else bothered by the way Bayern Munich have conducted themselves ahead of this Saturday’s Champions League final?
I certainly am.
It all began back on the night of April 22nd when Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp found out the story was about to break that Munich had triggered Mario Gotze’s €37m release clause. Klopp first knew of the signing back on April 10th, the day after BVB came from behind to oust Málaga in the Champions League quarter finals. “I had one day’s happiness,” Klopp said.
Gotze’s departure was something that Dortmund, facing a crucial Champions League semi-final clash with Real Madrid two days later, had hoped to keep under wraps. But on April 23rd all of Germany knew of the young superstar’s fate when the cover of Bild stated: “Götze Zu Den Bayern [Götze to Bayern].”
Awful suspicious timing, wouldn’t you agree?
Klopp later admitted that the news was devastating, claiming that “on a scale of one to 10, this is a nine.” The manager went on to explain: “We all know why it has come out now. We don’t know why the people who have leaked this have done so at such a delicate time.”
With no choice but to confirm that it was true, BVB took to their Facebook page and issued the following statement: “Mario Götze’s agent Volker Struth told us a few days ago that the player wishes to make use of his release clause and on July 1, 2013 move to Bayern Munich.” Shortly thereafter Bayern confirmed over their official website: “Bayern Munich confirm that the club have reached an agreement with national team player Mario Götze that he will play for Bayern Munich from 1 July 2013.”
Not exactly the ideal PR event before Dortmund’s first Champions League semi-final since 1998.
The upstart club were justifiably crushed by the news. Bayern attempted to claim their innocence by issuing a statement saying they had wanted to wait until after Dortmund’s match with Madrid as they didn’t want to be a distraction.
In the face of darkness, Dortmund kept it classy as they asked for fans to “support Mario Götze unconditionally as they would any other player in the final games of the season” as they seek a place in the final. And the Yellow Wall did just that, helping BVB produce a stunning performance that crushed Madrid 4-1.
But as soon as Dortmund had begun to lick its wounds, more bad news came as Bild reported that earlier in the week striker Robert Lewandowski had signed with Bayern. Munich rushed to issue a statement claiming that, “contrary to these reports, do not have any contract with Robert Lewandowski.” But it didn’t matter as Lewandowski’s agent, Maik Barthel, acted on the news and announced: “We have reached an agreement with a club and intend (him) to move this summer.”
Again, awful suspicious timing to say the least.
Six days later Dortmund traveled to Madrid and held on to lose 2-0, which was good enough for a 4-3 aggregate victory. Bayern, meanwhile, coasted to a 7-0 aggregate destruction of Barcelona ensuring the two Bundesliga sides will face off in the Champions League final at Wembley.
So what does this all mean?
Well, by triggering Gotze’s release clause, Munich is effectively trying to buy the Champions League title. And by perpetuating rumors concerning Lewandowski, Bayern is engaging in a dirty, desperate line of dark arts.
Their motivation?
To impart revenge on the club that spent the last two years embarrassing them by stealing their Bundesliga glory.
We’ll see if the plan works.
