FC Bayern Munchen News

Liverpool have previously considered a move for Manchester City forward Leroy Sané at the end of the season, but it’s been stressed the Germany international will only leave to join Bayern Munich.

The 24-year-old is expected to walk away from City this summer with just 12 months left on his contract at the Etihad, something which looks set to pave the way for a move back to Germany where he’ll join the Bundesliga champions.

It’s a story which has once again been backed up by Bayern Munich journalist Christian Falk, only this time he’s confirmed Liverpool were also interested in making a move for Sané at the end of the season.

Liverpool haven’t pursued a deal for Sané for two reasons. The first, crucially, being Manchester City would refuse to sell to their direct rivals for the Premier League title. Secondly, the German wants to return to the Bundesliga and he wants to join Bayern Munich.

Sané actually had the chance to join Bayern Munich while he was still at Schalke, but the 24-year-old ultimately chose Manchester City instead and he’s gone on to make 134 appearances for the club across all competitions.

He’s been directly involved in 84 goals during his current four-year spell at the club too, helping City lift seven pieces of silverware under Pep Guardiola.

Sané hasn’t always been flavour of the month at Manchester City due to a clash in styles with Guardiola, but under Hansi Flick at Bayern Munich, the German will be allowed to take the hand break off and play with a lot more freedom.

He’ll also have the chance to play alongside international teammate Serge Gnabry, with both players looking to fill the gap left by Bayern Munich’s former wingers Arjen Robben and Franck Ribéry.

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Manchester United signed Owen Hargreaves in 2007 with one clear goal in mind; to win the Champions League for the first time in almost a decade.

Just 12 months later, Sir Alex Ferguson was able to get his hands on Europe’s most prestigious trophy for what would prove to be one final time. Hargreaves was vital in United’s success that season, but little did he know it would be the penultimate time he’d ever complete a full game of football.

Hargreaves’ journey to the winners’ podium in Moscow wasn’t easy. In fact, from an early age, it was almost impossible to imagine he’d ever become a professional footballer, let alone win the Champions League with both Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

His upbringing was as English as it gets. Roast dinners on Sunday and cups of tea were as common for Hargreaves as they were for most families in Old Blighty, only his came 4,000 miles away in western Canada.

Like almost everyone else growing up in North America, Hargreaves’ sporting role models didn’t play soccer. He was unsurprisingly drawn to Michael Jordan – the inspiration behind Hargreaves’ decision to take the number 23 shirt at Bayern Munich – and he loved ice hockey.

His passions were elsewhere, but Hargreaves inevitably caught football fever and he started to impress from an early age with Calgary Foothills FC, where he was eventually scouted by Bayern Munich.

Hargreaves hadn’t even heard of Bayern Munich when he went on trial at the club – not that Germany’s most successful team ever knew – but he impressed so much, the Canada-born midfielder was signed to a youth contract in Bavaria.

It was quite a journey from arriving at Munich airport, where he was picked up by Mats Hummels’ dad, to making his debut in the Bundesliga,. But Hargreaves’ biggest breakthrough came just after his 20th birthday in a Champions League semi final.

He was still on a youth team contract and had just eight minutes of Champions League experience under his belt when Ottmar Hitzfeld picked him to start in the semi final second leg against Real Madrid, but he ran Los Blancos into the ground and from there everything changed.

Hargreaves had been looking across the tunnel at Luís Figo – the most expensive player on the planet at the time – and one of his footballing idols Iván Helguera before the game, but after, the fresh-faced Canadian was told his performances had earned him a professional contract.

Just a few months later, Hargreaves would have a vital decision to make. It was a decision which he’d be reminded of for years to come as well, as the Canada-born, German speaking midfielder wanted to play international football for England.

Football from abroad wasn’t as easily accessible at the start of the millennium as it is these days, but that’s little excuse for the stick Hargreaves would receive whenever he played for the Three Lions. It wasn’t just from fans either. The national press stoked the fires for quite some time as well.

Hargreaves had just won the league and cup double with Bayern Munich – he was even voted as the man of the match in the DFB-Pokal final – but when his name was read out as part of England’s World Cup squad in 2006, there were audible boos coming from the press room.

The press were on his back before the tournament in Germany, but they weren’t after. Hargreaves was one of the few England players who walked away from the World Cup as a success, which paid off when he was voted as the country’s footballer of the year.

Hargreaves wouldn’t join Manchester United for another year, but Sir Alex wanted his man straight away. The England international even visited United’s manager to hold talks over a move after the World Cup, but Bayern Munich had already waved goodbye to Michael Ballack and wouldn’t let another midfielder leave.

He isn’t always remembered as a modern Manchester United great because of how things ended, but Hargreaves couldn’t have wished for a better start to his career at Old Trafford.

They’d been able to wrap up the Premier League title in that season, where Hargreaves made 34 appearances in total across all competitions, but it was United’s Champions League final against Chelsea which would prove to be one of the most significant.

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Hargreaves had already been playing through a slight injury throughout most of the season, but that didn’t stop him from putting one hell of shift in Moscow.

He played the full 120 minutes, scored in the penalty shootout, and still had enough left in the tank to celebrate when Edwin van der Sar settled things with a strong left hand to keep out Nicolas Anelka’s spot kick.

Hargreaves would stay at Manchester United for another three years and the club continued to be successful, but they had to do it without the former Bayern Munich midfielder. From 34 appearances in the 2007/08 season, he only made five more over the next 36 months at Old Trafford.

In fact, having lifted the Champions League with Manchester United at the age of 27, Hargreaves would actually only go on to make nine more appearances throughout the rest of his career.

The former England international played in a couple of games at the start of the 2008/09 season, but it wouldn’t be until May 2010 that he’d step back onto a pitch and even then, his cameo appearances only prompted injuries to reoccur.

Hargreaves was in his prime when he lifted the Champions League with Manchester United – his second European trophy, after winning it in 2001 with Bayern Munich – but his career was ultimately cut brutally short.

The boots were hung up by the age of 31, leaving football fans asking just what might have been had Hargreaves been able to dodge quite so many problems with his knees.

The two Champions League finals which Manchester United lost during that time certainly could have swung in a different direction. Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona came out on top both in Rome and London, but a hard-working midfielder like Hargreaves certainly would have helped the disrupt Barça’s rhythm at the very least – even if the results had ultimately stayed the same.

Hargreaves almost certainly would have played a bigger role in the Premier League title race too. Although United retained the title in 2009 and won it again in 2011, they missed out to Chelsea by just one point in between those seasons.

His time as a footballer unceremoniously ended across the road at Manchester City because, as expected, injuries continued to plague his career.

Hargreaves impressively scored on his debut for the club, but he only ever played one game in the Premier League during a season which is only ever remembered for Sergio Agüero’s late title-clincher against Queens Park Rangers.

Hargreaves rose to prominence as one of the emerging talent’s in England’s underachieving golden generation, and while he walked away from the game with a trophy cabinet most players can only dream about, there will always be a burning desire to understand just what else he could of achieved had his future not been snatched away by injury.

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After the Scottish football season was put to an end, Celtic have now won nine league titles in a row, and although ‘fitba’ comes under the wrath of the footballing world, topping the table that many times at any level is a hell of an achievement.

But it got us thinking, has anyone actually won more than nine in a row? Surely not?

To answer that question, we took a look at the longest runs of consecutive league title wins throughout Europe.

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7 titles 2002-2008 – Lyon, France

Before Paris Saint-Germain took the reins of French football, Lyon enjoyed a recor- breaking start to the 21st century with seven consecutive titles between 2002 and 2008.

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7 titles 2013-2019 – Bayern Munich, Germany

Bayern Munich are one of the most dominant forces in world football and have collected seven consecutive Bundesliga titles between 2013 and 2019. With the current season back underway in Germany, Bayern could be on their way for number eight.

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7 titles 1997-2003 – Maribor, Slovenia

Since Slovenia gained independence in 1991, Maribor have won the top-flight title a total of 15 times, with seven on the bounce coming between 1997 and 2003.

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7 titles 1997-2003 & 2011-2017 – Olympiacos, Greece

Olympiacos dominated the league in the late 90s and in the new millennium. The side from Piraeus celebrated seven straight titles from 1997-2003, five straight from 2005-2009, and another seven consecutive league trophies from 2011-2017.

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7 titles 2013-2019 – APOEL Nicosia, Cyprus

APEOL Nicosia clinched their seventh consecutive Cypriot championship last season – a run dating back to 2013. Their achievement eclipsed Omonia’s run of six from 1974 to1979.

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8 titles 2012-2019 – Juventus, Italy

Fair to say Juventus have wiped the floor with Italian football this past decade, no? Eight straight Serie A trophies from 2012 to 2019, and leading the pack in the current season. Untouchable.

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8 titles 2012-2019 – The New Saints, Wales

Nothing says total dominance like eight consecutive title wins from 2012 to 2019, including two trebles and five doubles, does it? You’d have to let someone else have a chance at some point wouldn’t you.

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8 titles 2009-2017 – FC Basel, Switzerland

When the Swiss FA changed the format of the their League in 2003, Basel really stood up and took notice. Winning 11 titles, eight straight from 2009 to 2017.

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9 titles – Celtic & Rangers, Scotland

Ah, the Old Firm derby. Each club has seen their fair share of dominance, both enjoying a period of nine consecutive league trophies. Celtic from 1966 to 1974, and again from 2012 to 2020. With Rangers completing the feat from 1989 to 1997..

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9 titles 1993-2001 – Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine

Dynamo Kiev dominated Ukrainian football in the 90s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, winning the league every year between 1993 and 2001. The club was named the Eastern European club of the 20th century by France-Presse.

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9 titles 1954-1962 – CSKA Sofia, Bulgaria

Bulgarian football hasn’t seen such supremacy since CSKA Sofia won nine leagues on the bounce from 1954 to 1962. Although Ludogorets Razgrad’s recent eight-in-a-row is looking likely to challenge the long-standing record.

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10 titles 2001-2010 – Sheriff Tiraspol, Moldova

Since its inception in 1992, Moldovan football has been completely and utterly controlled by Sheriff Tiraspol. They’ve picked up 18 titles including 10-in-a-row from 2001 to 2010.

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10 titles 2001-2010 – FC Pyunik, Armenia

An almost identical record to their Moldovan counterparts. After gaining independence from the Soviet Union, FC Pyunik have picked up 14 titles, including 10 in a row from 2001 to 2010.

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10 titles 1914-1925 – MTK Budapest, Hungary

MTK Budapest won 10 Hungarian league titles in a row but their triumph spanned 11 years. Winning the league in 1914, two seasons were missed due to the first world war. When football resumed, MTK Budapest won another nine from 1917 to 1925.

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10 titles 1990-1999 – Dinamo Tbilisi, Georgia

Dinamo Tbilisi were one of the leading clubs in Soviet football and continued their prominence in Georgian football throughout the 90s, picking up every league title from 1990 to 1999.

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11 titles 2006-2016 – Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia

In the 29-year existence of the Croatian first division, Dinamo Zagreb have won it 20 times. 20. I guess it’s really no surprise that they won it 11 times on the bounce between 2006 and 2016.

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13 titles 1992-2004 – Rosenborg BK, Norway

Rosenborg’s ‘second golden era’ began in 1985 with a league win, and ended with 19 league titles and six cups, including 13 consecutive league titles between 1992 and 2004.

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13 titles 2006-2018 – BATE Borisov, Belarus

Think back to 2006; the world has changed a lot since then. The only constant has been BATE Borisov winning the Belarusian Premier League, until 2018.

14 titles 1991-2004 – Skonto, Latvia

Skonto were founded in 1991, they also won their first Latvian league that year. 14 league championships in a row followed. Sadly the club went bust in 2016. Short but sweet eh.

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14 titles 2003-2016 – Lincoln Red Imps, Gibraltar

For a semi-professional team, Lincoln haven’t done too badly in the record books. They’ve won their league 23 times, including 14 consecutive titles between 2003 and 2016. They were also the first Gibraltarian side in the Champions League in 2014.

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Turns out football without fans is still football after all…sort of.

While you’ve probably had bigger live audiences to watch your terrible seven-a-side team get thrashed on a Wednesday evening, the last few days of Bundesliga action have turned out to be a blessing for football-starved viewers everywhere.

Julian Brandt, Alfonso Davies and Marcus Thuram were amongst the more prdictable headliners of Matchday 26’s long-awaited action as they dazzlingly reaffirmed their respective reputations with the world watching.

But a few players who would only have been familiar to the most devoted of Football Manager 2020 players have also seized the opportunity to steal some of the limelight over the last three days.

Let’s have a look at some of the surprise stars as the Bundesliga made its big return.

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Bote Baku (Mainz)

Cologne and Mainz’s 2-2 back and forth was easily the weekend’s most unmissable contest, packed with nifty dribbling, silky attacking play and some truly, truly abject defending from Mainz.

Indeed, the only one of Rouven Schröder’s defenders to emerge with any credit was the outstanding Germany U21 international Baku.

Though he lost Florian Kainz for Cologne’s second, the right-back’s indefatigable foraging down the wing proved a crucial outlet for a Mainz side struggling to convert possession into goals, as his inch-perfect cross to Taiwo Awoniyi gave his team the platform to press for an equaliser.

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Ramy Bensebaini (Borussia Monchengladbach)

It’s been a long journey to the top for the Algerian defender, who has had to compete with veteran Sweden international Oscar Wendt for a starting spot with Die Fohlen.

The man who was Gladbach’s two-goal hero as they defeated the mighty Bayern Munich in December was excellent yet again as his side climbed above RB Leipzig in the table with a win over Eintracht Frankfurt, turning Almamy Toure inside out to assist Thuram early on before adding a penalty of his own.

If he keeps playing like this, Arsenal might regret not signing Bensebaini after a 2013 trial…

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Mijat Gacinovic (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Eintracht will be pretty eager to forget Saturday in a hurry, a tepid afternoon where they were outplayed by Gladbach quite literally from the first minute.

Star midfielder Filip Kostic was struggling to get involved in the game without the mobile presence of star forward Gonçalo Paciência, and getting his fellow Serb, the lively Gacinovic, involved a little earlier may have provided the wide man with some much-needed support.

As it was, the man who scored Frankfurt’s infamous cup-winning goal against Bayern Munich in 2018 looked effervescent in a 15-minute cameo, trying time and time again to jolt his lethargic team into life with his sharp movement.

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Marko Gruji? (Hertha Berlin)

Ever produced a midfield display so complete your teammate breaks the law to give you a peck on the cheek?

This modern-day tale of forbidden love was Liverpool loanee Gruji?’s reality at the weekend, as he was a little too warmly congratulated by Dedryck Boyata after locking down Hoffenheim’s forwards with an impressive all-round display in the middle of the park.

It’s a real shame that James Milner is immortal, because he might have a shot at the Liverpool first-team in this form.

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Uwe Hünemeier (Paderborn)

Another former Premier League man had a strong outing in Germany this weekend, although we’ll forgive you for not remembering the Paderborn defender’s solitary appearance for Brighton in the English top flight.

The newly-promoted side desperately needed a point, any point, against relegation rivals Fortuna Dusseldorf, and Hunemeier made sure that they wouldn’t leave with nothing, throwing himself at everything that moved as Paderborn rode their luck.

The best of his blocks came right at the beginning, going to ground to deny Matthias Zimmerman when he looked certain to finish in the bottom right corner.

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Robin Koch (Freiburg)

A great Saturday for Koch almost turned into one for the books, as the centre-back came close to taking the fizz out of Leipzig with an injury-time header that was eventually disallowed.

The heavily sought-after defender, who can count Leeds and West Ham amongst his suitors, was nonetheless instrumental as Timo Werner endured an uncharacteristically quiet afternoon.

Deputizing as a midfielder, Koch was one of the main obstacles in the way of an out-of-sorts Leipzig, proving vital as he blocked a Kevin Kampl shot which looked set to get the better of goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow.

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Mark Uth (Cologne)

Uth is nowhere near as young as some of the players on this list, but it was intriguing to see a player linked so often to a Premier League transfer in action during Cologne’s thrilling clash against Mainz.

Since Uth’s debut on the 18th January, having signed from Schalke, relegation candidates Cologne have thrived, losing only three out of nine games, while top scorer Jhon Cordoba has been in his best form with the former Germany international behind him.

It’s easy to see why, as a bit of wizardry from Uth won his side a penalty that he dutifully converted, and the quality of his touch and movement opened up numerous possibilities for Cologne in a game which was ready to be turned on its head by a moment of magic.

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Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)

There was a lot going on in Bremen’s heavy Monday night loss at the hands of Die Werkself, between Kai Havertz announcing himself to the world with a poaching clinic, Moussa Diaby’s magic on the left, Karim Bellarabi’s vile no-look assist and both sides just abandoning ‘defending’ as a concept.

It was almost enough to overshadow one more extraordinary event, the debut of Leverkusen’s youngest ever Bundesliga player in the right-winger Wirtz, who, just over two weeks after his 17th birthday, was being asked to adapt to some pretty odd circumstances.

In just over an hour on the pitch, Wirtz looked incredibly comfortable, repeatedly turning Marco Friedl inside out with his elastic touch and directness – if this was what he produced on debut, Bundesliga defenders should be tossing and turning about what the future holds.

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“It’s embarrassing, it’s so disappointing, I don’t know what to say. Dortmund’s made a giant step forward. We can say they’re almost champions.”

Those were the quotes from Bayern Munich star Arjen Robben, who could hardly hide his disappointment after walking off the pitch at the Westfalenstadion on 11 April, 2012.

Like many of his teammates, the Dutchman understood the consequences of this particular defeat. They had needed the three points to draw level with the home side as the Bundesliga title race neared a conclusion.

Sure, a 1-0 away defeat isn’t one a team would normally get too upset about. But given their deficit to Borussia Dortmund in the table, any defeat in the Bundesliga was considered a costly one for Die Roten – especially losing to them directly.

The stakes were incredibly high that night. Dortmund, who were looking to successfully defend their title, had come from behind to lead the top-flight by just three points. But Bayern were still within reach of Die Schwarzgelben, and this set the stage for a highly anticipated encounter that both sides needed to win.

It was a blow for the home side that they could not count on the services of star creator Mario Götze, who had scored the only goal in the reverse fixture back in November. Yet both teams still lined up with strong teams, in a packed Westfalenstadion filled with just over 80,000 fans.

This was the game everyone wanted to see – the fixture that decided who ruled German football that year.

While Mario Gomez had the first chance of the game with a saved header, it was the home side who outplayed their opponents in the first-half, and the chances starting coming thick and fast for them. First, it was Jakub B?aszczykowski who fired wide in a one-on-one situation with Manuel Neuer.

Minutes later, the Bayern stopper was forced into a briliant save to deny Kevin Großkreutz from close-range. And on a rare occasion where he was beaten, the post saved Die Roten, keeping out Robert Lewandowski’s header from nestling into the back of the net.

The best Bayern could muster was a long-range effort from Toni Kroos that went wide of Roman Weidenfeller’s goal. Their midfield was pressured and hassled constantly, and on the flanks, Franck Ribéry and Robben were both shackled, unable to impact the game the way they usually could. With Gomez unable to provide a relief outlet for his defence, Jupp Heynckes’ side were comprehensively beaten in every aspect except the scoreboard.

And he would see his wish fulfilled, as Bayern began to win back control of the game in the second-half. Heynckes’ decision to bring on Bastian Schweinsteiger for the ineffective Thomas Müller had the desired effect, with Die Roten able to keep hold of the ball for longer and frustrate Dortmund, who were beginning to run out of steam.

But just as a draw looked to be the most likeliest result, Die Schwarzgelben got their reward for having outrun their opponents all game long. A cross from Marcel Schmelzer was half-cleared away and fell to Großkreutz, whose scuffed effort looked to fall short of reaching the goal.

Spotting this, Lewandowski reacted brilliantly and flicked the ball past Neuer. It was a well-deserved goal for Jürgen Klopp’s side, and sent their fans into a state of frenzy. Meanwhile, Bayern had only themselves to blame as Robben was too slow in catching the Polish striker offside, while three of their players had turned their backs on Großkreutz’ initial effort – and failed to deal with it properly.

The drama wouldn’t end there. Weidenfeller, rushing out to get the ball, would bring down Robben in the box with only a few minutes remaining. Up stepped the Dutch winger, who had scored all eight of his previous Bundesliga penalties.

Maybe the occasion got to him. Because his effort was tame and easy for the hosts’ goalkeeper to save, atoning for his error. Dortmund centre-back Neven Suboti?, channelling his inner Martin Keown, proceeded to yell expletives in the former Chelsea player’s face, knowing fully how big of a miss it was.

Amazingly, the Bayern star would get a second chance at equalising, this time from two yards out. Yet somehow, he found a way to miss, effectively ending his team’s chances of salvaging anything from the game. And while Lewandowski would hit the bar before the final whistle was blown, the game’s big moments had effectively decided the game – in favour of Dortmund.

As shown by the wild celebrations at the Westfalenstadion, this was a huge win for the home side. Having outplayed their opponents for much of the game, it was a victory fully deserved. And Klopp’s side would go on to win all of their remaining Bundesliga games, with their newly created six-point gap too much for Bayern to overcome.

Fast forward eight years, and at the time of writing, Bayern currently hold a four-point gap over Die Schwarzgelben. In just over a week, they’ll make the trip to Dortmund, who haven’t won a league title since that very season.

Will Lucien Favre’s side be able to emulate history and beat Die Roten to set up a title march of their own? Or will Bayern banish the memories of this painful defeat?

Whatever happens, it’s fair to say the winner of this encounter will be the ‘almost champions’ of the 2019/20 Bundesliga.

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