London: Bayern Munich are trying to downplay being the favourites, while Borussia Dortmund are eager to play up their chances to pull off the upset. Even before the start of Saturday's Champions League final, the German rivals are at odds in their approach to the biggest game in club soccer.
Bayern are approaching their third final in four years with the self-assured calm of a team in control after a season of dominance, while Dortmund are enjoying the role of underdogs.
Bayern winger Thomas Mueller summed up his side's mood on Friday, saying that the match-up is just a normal Champion League game. "Of course, you get goose bumps when you're on the pitch and we know what's at stake. We won't let it drive us crazy though," the 23-year-old said.
Bayern captain Philipp Lahm felt the same way. "The players are the right age now, the right character. There's nothing against us winning tomorrow," said Lahm, who added that he wouldn't be surprised if Bayern reached a fourth final in five years next season....
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10:04 AM, May 25, 2013
London: Bayern Munich are unfazed by the need to be more clinical in attack against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday and avoid another Champions League final defeat having lost the showpiece match twice in the past three years. Midfielder Thomas Mueller, who at 23 will be in his third final after losing in 2010 and 2012, said his team mates were not panicking because experience had taught them the key to...
08:53 AM, May 25, 2013
Paris: The big surprise about the Champions League final on Saturday isn't the teams - Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, both superb. It's that it took so long for such an all-German contest to materialise. With the largest economy and population in Europe, modern stadiums heaving with fans, financial backing from industrial giants, an impressively run league with a fat balance sheet and mostly profitable clubs and a web of...
10:25 AM, May 24, 2013
London: Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich are bitter rivals, yet in tactical terms they offer variations on the same theme. Both press their opponents high up the pitch, can move the ball from defence to attack with bewildering speed and play with a 4-2-3-1 formation featuring wide players on each flank and a lone striker. Dortmund, however, are more lightweight and lean towards a more counter-attacking style....
11:40 AM, May 23, 2013
London: An internet search for "Arjen Robben cuts inside" produces more than two million items, one of them a recent tweet declaring: "That was the 10,000th time Robben has cut inside and shot with his left foot - so predictable". Yet, when the Bayern Munich winger bears down the right in Saturday's Champions League final, Borussia Dortmund's defenders, if they follow in the misdirected footsteps of so many before them,...
11:11 AM, May 23, 2013
Dortmund: Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Goetze will miss Saturday's Champions League final against Bayern Munich after failing to recover from a hamstring injury, leaving the team without one of their best players. Dortmund confirmed on Wednesday that Goetze will not be fit in time to face his future club at Wembley Stadium in London. It would have been the 20-year-old Goetze's last game for Dortmund before his 37-million euro switch...
09:05 PM, May 22, 2013
Dortmund: Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Goetze pulled out of training on his comeback from a hamstring injury Tuesday, putting his participation in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich in doubt. Goetze took part in individual jogging exercises in the morning before joining the team session in the afternoon, but he could only complete an hour with teammates before withdrawing. German magazine Kicker reported that Goetze's injured right hamstring that...
11:09 PM, May 21, 2013
London: Nicola Rizzoli of Italy will referee the Champions League final between Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. The match at Wembley Stadium on Saturday will be the 41-year-old Rizzoli's highest-profile fixture since becoming an international referee in 2007. Rizzoli will be assisted by compatriots Renato Faverani and Andrea Stefani, while Gianluca Rocchi and Paolo Tagliavento will be the extra officials behind the goals. The fourth official is Damir Skomina from...
03:59 PM, May 20, 2013
Dortmund: Borussia Dortmund's Mario Goetze is expected to recover from a muscle injury in time for the Champions League final against German rivals Bayern Munich on May 25, Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said on Wednesday. The talented 20-year-old attacking midfielder, who has already agreed to join Bayern from next season, picked up the muscle injury early in Dortmund's semi-final second leg against Real Madrid on April 30. "Right now it...
05:07 PM, May 15, 2013
Munich: Bayern Munich need to beat Borussia Dortmund to the Champions League title to avoid being stuck with the tag of losers after two defeats in the past three finals, Bayern's Thomas Mueller said on Tuesday. The Bavarians, who lost the 2010 final to Inter Milan and the 2012 edition in dramatic fashion in Munich to Chelsea on penalties, take on Bundesliga rivals Dortmund in the first all-German final of...
07:43 PM, May 14, 2013
Berlin: Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben dismissed speculation that he would leave the German champions at the end of the season for Manchester City, saying he had no reason to move. "I am not dealing with this speculation," the Dutchman said. "There is so much speculation but I only want to deal with football. I still have two years on my deal so why should I leave? It is all...
05:43 PM, May 14, 2013
Berlin: Bayern Munich coach Jupp Heynckes will sit on the coaching bench for a Bundesliga game for the last time when the champions meet his former club Borussia Moenchengladbach in the season finale on Saturday, and hinted on Monday that he might retire. The 68-year-old, who won the Champions League with Real Madrid in 1998 and had a long playing and coaching career at Gladbach, will make way for Pep...
05:10 PM, May 14, 2013
Berlin: Bayern Munich crushed European heavyweights Barcelona and Juventus en route to the Champions League final but they should not expect the same to happen against Borussia Dortmund, Dortmund coach Juergen Klopp said on Monday. Bayern face their Bundesliga rivals in the first all-German Champions League final in London's Wembley stadium on May 25. The Bavarians beat former European champions Juventus 4-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals before exploding past...
06:42 PM, May 13, 2013
Berlin: France winger Franck Ribery Monday said he is eager to extend his Bayern Munich contract past 2015 having already spent nearly six years at the Champions League finalists. The 30-year-old joined Bayern in July 2007 from Marseille and has scored 51 goals with 74 assists in his 154 league games for the Bavarians to become a fan favourite at the Allianz Arena and was a key factor in Bayern...
05:57 PM, May 06, 2013
Barcelona: Cesc Fabregas's 26th birthday celebrations on Saturday may have been more subdued than usual after Barcelona's Champions League exit to Bayern Munich on Wednesday, the latest in a series of key matches in which he has failed to impress. The former Arsenal captain has struggled to live up to sky-high expectations since returning to his boyhood club in the summer of 2011, even prompting media speculation he may move...
10:02 AM, May 05, 2013
Madrid: The manner of the Champions League semi-final exits of Barcelona and Real Madrid have set in motion likely overhauls at both clubs, and is forcing La Liga to re-evaluate itself in the face of a resurgent German Bundesliga. Barcelona were humbled 7-0 on aggregate by German champions Bayern Munich on Wednesday, the day after Real almost overturned their shock 4-1 first leg defeat away to outsiders Borussia Dortmund, to...
03:39 PM, May 02, 2013
Barcelona: Barcelona's Champions League humbling by Bayern Munich on Wednesday will not prompt wholesale changes to the squad and the 7-0 aggregate reverse would have been avoided had the team not been decimated by injury, coach Tito Vilanova said. Barca suffered their worst ever European defeat over two legs in the last-four clash against the German champions, but were missing their Argentine World Player of the Year Lionel Messi for...
08:54 AM, May 02, 2013
Barcelona: Bayern Munich's stunning 7-0 aggregate victory over Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League will count for nothing if they do not go on to win the competition at Wembley later this month, Arjen Robben said on Wednesday. "We said immediately after the game 'now we need to win it'," Robben, who curled home Bayern's first in the 3-0 win at the Nou Camp on Wednesday, said in...
08:30 AM, May 02, 2013
Barcelona: Bayern Munich advanced to the Champions League final for the third time in four years, routing Barcelona on 7-0 aggregate and setting up the first all-German final against Borussia Dortmund. Coasting from a 4-0 win in the first leg at home last week, Bayern beat Barcelona 3-0 Wednesday night in the second leg on goals by Arjen Robben in the 49th minute and Thomas Mueller in the 76th around...
02:03 AM, May 02, 2013
Barcelona: Barcelona were dealt a blow as they prepare for Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg at home to Bayern Munich when midfielder Sergio Busquets and defender Eric Abidal were ruled out through injury. "Sergio Busquets and Eric Abidal will not feature in tomorrow's match," Barca said in a statement on their website on Tuesday. "The midfielder has not recovered from the (groin) injury that kept him from playing ......
12:24 AM, May 01, 2013
