Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund contested the final of the Champions League, with Munich coming out as deserved winners. What’s more, the way in which both teams made it to the final further underlined how good they really were, demolishing teams such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and Juventus en route. While many think that this is now the dawn of German dominance, there is a conflicting view – the view that this is a one off; something that won’t be repeated again for a long while …
Big Money Brings Big Success
Perhaps the most important reason why Germany won’t continue to dominate doesn’t even have anything to do with their teams: it is the teams in other countries that dictate this. Last year, the teams from the EPL and from Italy were lacklustre, to say the least. Even the famous Real Madrid and Barcelona were looking like they’d lost a bit of their usual style, panache and will to win. What have they done to change this though? Well, quite a bit. Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea have all threatened to spend big bucks, while Real Madrid and Barcelona have brought in some huge names too, such as Neymar and, more than likely, Gareth Bale for a world record fee. Even the Italians, who have been somewhat of a sleeping giant recently, have started to spend. Oh, and don’t forget the mega-rich Paris Saint-Germain & Monaco …
While these teams have been spending, what have the Germans done? Not much, in all honesty. Bayern have a new manager (more on that later), and a few reasonably high-profile names have come in, but no German team has done anything to make heads turn. They need to spend big to stay ahead – at the moment, teams from other leagues are already surpassing them though. Gotze and Alcantara really don’t compare to Neymar, Bale and Cavani.
Guardiola: The Big Risk
As already mentioned, Bayern have a new manager this season, and he comes in the form of Pep Guardiola. He’s the hottest name in football, and the man whom everyone thinks is the best manager in the world. However many question Guardiola’s previous achievements. He ran a team who had an unlimited bankroll and who possessed the best players in the world (Messi, Xavi, Iniesta etc). He had it on a plate for him – most managers in world football would be able to bring success with a team like this. With Bayern, he actually has to bring out the best in a group of players without the same prestige as his Barca players. Can he actually do this? Only time will tell …
Competition is Key
In England, there are at least five teams capable of beating each other. In Italy, there are four. Even Spain, with the dominance of Real Madrid and Barcelona, has two different teams with world-beating capabilities. Germany, however, seems to be heading towards a one team league – a league where only one team ever has a chance of winning the title. Readers of this might think that this is ridiculous, with the fact that Dortmund were shown to be the second best team in Europe last season. 2013/14 will be very different from last year though, for one important reason …
Dortmund (the only team previously able to even rival Munich) is going to be raided by other European teams, looking to take their best players. Their biggest star, Robert Lewandowski, looks to be heading to pastures new – perhaps even to Bayern Munich, further increasing their dominance – plus others are likely to follow. This leaves Dortmund in the chasing pack, instead of up there with the best. When the fact that other teams haven’t spent more than 20 million individually yet, the gulf between Bayern and the rest is apparent.
Without this kind of competition, there is no way that Bayern can continually test themselves against great teams. Plus, only one good team leads to a league that is boring and less attractive to fans – therefore to a league that great players will not want to move to.
With this combination of a lack of competition, a risky new managerial approach from Bayern and the strengthening of Europe’s elite, the future looks shaky for the current kings of Europe. Of course, the German league could surprise us and go from strength to strength – something that would be good for the whole of Europe – but nobody should get dragged into the hype of thinking that German teams will be the champions of Europe for years to come. Unless, of course, they get an influx of rich foreign owners ready to spend their billions on the best players from Europe and South America …
This article was written by guest writer Ilan
Ilan runs the Australian web site Football Jerseys Online where you can purchase jerseys from all the top European leagues including EPL, La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga.