Servus aus Muenchen! The effects of a game that FC Bayern played two weeks ago vs. Getafe FC can lead a team to play one of two ways – exhausted, lackluster is one, and that would lead to the unraveling of a season’s worth of solid play (similar to a team who played 22 innings the night before and had to travel to play the next day). But after goalie Pato bobbled the ball in front of his own goal and Luca Toni made it 3-2 in the 115th minute, the team picked up its play. In fact, the manner in which they have, demonstrates a team that has picked up a second win, realizes how lucky they were, and look to stamp their place in history. Bayern kept attacking and were able to earn the draw on Toni’s header in the final seconds and move on to the semi-finals. In their next match, Dortmund had no chance. Boom, boom, boom, boom. Goals in the 3rd, 8th, 17th and 22nd minutes and the match was over. And how they scored – crisp passing, explosive runs, teammates in sync – demonstrated more Bayern’s new found motivation than their opponent’s poor play. The Reds went on to beat Frankfurt on the road 3-1 and then beat Dortmund in a replay for the German Cup Final. One trophy down, two more to go (the Bundesliga title is theirs to lose with a 10 point lead and 5 matches left). Thursday’s match vs. formidable Zenit St. Petersburg will take them one step closer to the holy grail of European football – the treble.
And it’s a shame that they will play the match without the person without whom they wouldn’t be in the semi-finals. Luca Toni has scored two goals in each of the last 4 matches. Read that last sentence again. Ronaldo, Rooney, Torres, Crouch, Drogba – none of the big names have done that over the past two weeks in their teams’ respective league and European matches. Toni has scored 35 goals this season in 44 matches, and counting. Analyzing the worth of his goals just a little more: 13 times he’s scored to make it 1-0, one of those times breaking a 1-1 tie that led to a win; 7 multi-goal games, including a natural hat-trick in one match and 4 in another. He’s the leading scorer in both the Bundesliga and UEFA Cup (I can’t confirm who scored the most in the German Cup tournament, but Toni led the team with 5, along with Miroslav Klose.) If you were to ask me who was Germany’s Player of the Year 3 weeks ago, I would have said Franck Ribery. His playmaking skills invigorated an offense that leads the league in scoring and kept the team at the top of table from week 1. But as I look through the whole season, the one name pops up on the score sheet – Toni. And he has the multiple game highlights that end up in the season ending videos that turn into votes. But he won’t play the next match, earning a silly yellow card in the 14th minute of extra time (the highlight came up as I wrote this). If Bayern struggle in the match without Toni, I won’t have any stronger evidence to who should be named ‘Fussballer’ of the year in Germany. Bayern hopes it doesn’t cost them a place in the final. Viel spass beim Spiel (Enjoy the match!) Salman
Nice writeup on Bayern and their season. However, the story of the day is the 8 Point Deduction and 200,000 Euro fine leavied against TuS Koblenz in the second division by the DFL today. Without going into all the details that are more than enough fodder for the conspiracy theorists already, the League took a team that was in no-mans land as far as relegation/promotion and placed them just above the drop zone. They still have three points on Kaiserslautern, however how the team will react to this in its final five games will remain to be seen.
Comment by Offebacher — April 24, 2008 @ 1:50 pm
Why were they fined and had points deducted Offenbacher?
Comment by Glenn Davis — April 24, 2008 @ 2:18 pm
Glenn, the main points in the DFL decision were that some players contracts were not disclosed when the DFL did it’s licensing review. Here is a quote from the DFL: “Part of the DFL’s job is to assure the foundation for a fair and fascinating competition. That’s why, on behalf of the community of the 36 professional clubs, it’s unacceptable if this system - rated as exemplary throughout Europe - is reduced to absurdity through deception”, DFL Chief Financial Officer Christian Müller declares.
What makes this such an interesting case is: 1. This is the highest point deduction in the history of the DFL. 2. The deduction is taken during the current season, previous cases had the point deductions taken the following season. 3. The team benefitting the most, Kaiserslautern, has two people in leading positions on its team that previously worked for Koblenz. Lots of uproar in Germany right now, as Koblenz is planning to pursue this matter in the courts. Depending on the ruling, there could potentially be a slew of other court cases with teams that may have been harmed by point deductions.
Comment by Offebacher — April 25, 2008 @ 7:02 am