Champions League: Bayern Munich confirm power shift

24Apr 2013

Bajnokok Ligája

After mauling Barcelona 4-0 in their Champions League semi-final, Bayern Munich simultaneously stole the Catalans status as the best in Europe...

Let's be honest, you usually need some luck to win the Champions League. Last season was a fine example, as Chelsea pulled off the most unlikely of triumphs via the lottery of penalty kicks in the Allianz Arena.

Their opponents that day, Bayern Munich, were by far the better team on the night and probably the best team in the competition too, but they still missed out on a fifth European Cup.

The other school of winning, the Barcelona blueprint of recent seasons, is to sweep all comers aside with an unstoppable brand of football.

Now however, there is a new kid on the block and this Bayern side look set to stay for some time to come. A team which are capable of Barca-esque one-touch football but are also equipped with a superior physicality.

Despite that most painful of Munich losses, Jupp Heynckes' side have come back even stronger this year and now this current crop are making their own luck by batting away all in their path.

Two of the goals they scored in crushing Barcelona 4-0 could easily been ruled out, Mario Gomez's for offside and the third for a foul by Thomas Muller, but no one could argue that their force of performance did not merit such an emphatic scoreline.

That win understandably cements Bayern as 1.04 favourites to qualify with Barcelona's slim chances of making another Wembley appearance now rated at 23.0.

Looking at the nature of the Spaniards' body language at the end, it was clear: Barcelona have been replaced as the best club side in Europe and almost certainly the world.

Interestingly, Barca are still 1.96 faves to record a victory in the second-leg, probably based on their 4-0 thrashing of AC Milan in the round-of-16, but surely the tie is beyond them this time.

Of course, Bayern also announced the signing of Borussia Dortmund's best young talent Mario Gotze for the start of the 2013/14 campaign for a record fee so, rather ominously, this squad is only going to get stronger.

Perhaps the only question mark is over the transition of power between the outgoing Heynckes and the incoming Pep Guardiola, whose appointment could yet rock the boat.