The two biggest clubs in German football and winners of the last four Bundesliga titles will meet at Wembley on Saturday, looking to win European football's biggest prize, the UEFA Champions League.
Four-time European champions
Bayern Munich will head into the match as favourites against
Borussia Dortmund, whose sole European Cup triumph came in 1997.
Die Bayern finished some 25 points ahead of
Die Borussen in the
Bundesliga this season, having been edged out by
Jurgen Klopp's side in each of the last two campaigns.
The Bavarians arrive at the final looking to avenge final
defeats in two of the last three seasons, having succumbed to Jose
Mourinho's Inter in 2010 before losing out on home soil to Chelsea last
season.
Jupp Heynckes side have been in irresistible form more recently, however, with demolitions of
Juventus (quarter-final) and Barcelona (semi-final) proving their class.
BVB arrive after beating Real Madrid in the semi-finals (4-3 on aggregate) and having squeaked past another Spanish side,
Malaga, in the last eight, when they were just three minutes from elimination.
Predicted Starting Lineups
Bayern Munich
The
Bayern side which was so outstanding in hammering Barcelona both at the
Allianz Arena and at Camp
Nou pretty much selects itself going into the final.
The injury to the brilliant midfield schemer Toni
Kroos is enough to ensure
Arjen Robben continues wide on the right in
Heynckes' preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, with Thomas Muller continuing in a central role behind lone striker Mario
Mandzukic.
The only real selection headache for
Heynckes
revolves around who partners with first-choice defender Dante at the
heart of the side's defence. Nonetheless, the ex-Manchester City
defender Jerome Boateng is expected to be given the nod, having been
Dante's preferred partner for much of the season, with Belgian Daniel
van
Buyten missing out.
Predicted Starting XI: Neuer; Lahm, Boateng, Dante, Alaba; Javi Martinez, Schweinsteiger; Robben, Muller, Ribery; Mandzukic. (4-2-3-1)
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Borussia Dortmund
Jurgen Klopp's side have already suffered a blow in the build-up to the final, with the news that the outstanding Mario
Gotze, set to move to opponents
Bayern during the summer, will miss out through injury.
David Ramos/Getty Images
In his absence, the key decision resides in not only who replaces the attacking midfielder—club captain Sebastian
Kehl,
Nuri Sahin or Kevin
Grosskreutz—but
also whether the side stick with their usual 4-2-3-1 formation or
utilise a 4-5-1/4-3-2-1 amalgamation which has been preferred in recent
fixtures with
Bayern.
Given
Grosskreutz's
energetic style and performance in the recent league clash between the
two, expect him to be given the nod in a tight midfield trio alongside
regulars Sven Bender and
Ilkay Gundogan.
The only other doubt currently surrounds centre-back Mats
Hummels and his ankle injury, but he is likely to start. Felipe Santana is on standby.
Predicted Starting XI: Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Bender, Gundogan, Grosskreutz; Blaszczykowski, Reus; Lewandowski. (4-3-2-1)
Matchup Analysis
Past Meetings
Bayern
have had the better of the meetings between the two sides this season,
remaining unbeaten in four matches over the course of 2012-13 (2 wins, 2
draws).
Nevertheless, Dortmund got the better of last season's biggest matches towards the end of the campaign— Winning the
DFB Pokal final 5-2 and a late-season league match 1-0, which acted as a virtual title decider.
Last Six Meetings:
May 5 2013: Borussia Dortmund 1-1 Bayern Munich (Bundesliga)
February 27 2013: Bayern Munich 1-0 Borussia Dortmund (German Cup)
December 1 2012: Bayern Munich 1-1 Borussia Dortmund (Bundesliga)
August 12 2012: Bayern Munich 2-1 Borussia Dortmund (German Super Cup)
May 12 2012: Borussia Dortmund 5-2 Bayern Munich (German Cup)
April 11 2012: Borussia Dortmund 1-0 Bayern Munich (Bundesliga)
Of course, all which has gone before will mean very little come Saturday's final.
Key Areas to Watch on Saturday
Bayern's Wing Prowess
Since Toni
Kroos injury and
Arjen Robben's return to the
Bayern
starting lineup, there has been a noticeable increase in the side's
attacking threat down either flank. Thomas Muller, fine player though he
is and scorer of crucial goals throughout his fledgling career, isn't
as direct as the Dutchman when he starts out wide, particularly in terms
of his ability to carry the ball considerable distances towards the
opposition goal.
On the left, Franck
Ribery has been in outstanding form recently, and he was at his mesmeric best against
Gladbach this past weekend, scoring twice and assisting
Robben's winner. His link-up with David
Alaba, the adventurous full-back, offers
Bayern a constant threat, whether dominating the game or on the counter-attack.
Additionally,
watch for the stealthy movement of Muller, who despite nominally being
selected as a No. 10, naturally drifts towards the right flank, where he
will create overloads with both
Robben and
Philipp Lahm.
The Tactics of Jurgen Klopp
The 4-2-3-1 has been a staple of Dortmund's success since
Jurgen Klopp's arrival from
Mainz in 2008.
However, the formidable pairing of Bastian
Schweinsteiger and
Javi
Martinez has seen the Dortmund boss become more cautious in recent
clashes between the two sides, adding an extra body into the centre of
his side's midfield.
Usually it has been the utility man Kevin
Grosskreutz, and with Mario
Gotze unavailable, such a move to the aforementioned 4-5-1/4-3-2-1 formation seems likely once again.
Whilst selecting the more defensively aware, high-energy style of
Grosskreutz over the more cultured
Nuri Sahin may appear a reactive move in the absence of
Gotze, it also allows
Klopp more in-game flexibility without the need for substitutions.
Grosskretuz has started in both full-back positions, central midfield, on either flank and even had a stint in goal after Roman
Weidenfeller's red card this past weekend. His adaptability makes
BVB tactically more flexible depending on circumstance.
Ceding the High Press
Both
teams have made their way to the final of this season's competition
through a mixture of devastating attacking play and the use of
relentless pressure against opposing defences. Both sides' use of the
high press has been particularly impressive at different parts of the
tournament—
Bayern especially against
Juventus in their quarter-final first leg and Dortmund in their semi-final first leg against Real Madrid.
Nonetheless, both sides won't be able to dominate
proceedings, and one will eventually have to cede to the other in that
regard. With that in mind, expect
BVB to follow the lines of recent matches between the two, allowing
Bayern to dominate possession whilst sitting deep and keeping compact, before looking to counter-attack.
If the game follows such a pattern, Marco
Reus and
Kuba Blaszczykowski will be key protagonists for
BVB, with their ability to transition from deep positions to support Robert
Lewandowski.
Abidal was well known for never scoring but he finally broke his duck in the Copa del Rey at San Mames in January 2011, and then followed it up a year later by scoring at the Bernabeu. The celebration of both goals is still a joy to watch and along with the glorious moment in May 2011 when he lifted the European Cup at Wembley and his emotional return to the team this spring will provide powerful memories for many years to come.
at San Mames the following week reports say that Abidal had to be substituted due to exhaustion. It’s impossible to know what his capabilities will be next season but I understand that the people within the club have more access to information than I do to make a decision and we can have little room for sentimentality if we want to return to our rightful place as top dogs in Europe.
