adminLONDON. — Bayern Munich’s 3-1 victory against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium heralded a new type of football, according to the German Press.
And Joe Hart was given plenty of stick, too.
The German newspapers were unsurprisingly lavish in their praise of Bayern Munich, most publications acknowledged that Pep Guardiola, in his 100th day in charge, served up a master-stroke in utilising Thomas Müller as a false No9, as striker Mario Mandžuki? sat on the bench.
The free-flowing football employed took Bayern to another level, they enthused, and was their best game of the season hitherto.
Tabloid Bild, whose match report was headlined “Super-Bayern überrollen Manchester” (“Super Bayern roll Manchester City over”), led with quotes from club president Uli Hoeness, who said: “Solch einen Fußball habe ich fast noch nie gesehen.”
“Today we have seen football as I have almost never seen like in my life before,” is the translation of the 61-year-old’s words, which became the newspaper’s main sport headline. “It was incredible,” he gushed.
And they spoke to Bayern captain Philipp Lahm who hinted that his team expected more from City. “Of course, it’s a fun feeling — we would not have imagined it to go better here ourselves. We knew coming to Manchester would be a real endurance test, and we passed.”
They passed with flying colours, as the Bild match report itself read: “Bayern dominated, dominated and excelled. At times, they made [City] dizzy and they showed their best performance of the season.”
Further, Bild — and many other papers — considered that the City supporters begrudgingly congratulating them was the ultimate seal of approval. “Even the British public paid respect and tributes after the final whistle, and adopted the triple-winners with applause.”
The tabloid also notes that defeating English opposition in the competition is a good omen, “because it is always followed by the title triumph!” In 1996 they defeated Nottingham Forest 5-1 in the Uefa Cup quarter final before winning for the first time, and in 2001 they bettered Manchester United 1-0 at the same stage in the Champions League before ultimate glory in Valencia over AC Milan on penalties.
Bild also took a long-range punt at England goalkeeper Joe Hart, whose mistake after only seven minutes allowed Franck Ribéry to open the scoring and shell-shocked City.
They suggested that Hart “made what the last [top] England goalkeeper David Seaman was famous for: he messed up a strong shot.” And later winger Arjen Robben (who “missed his opponents with his dribbling, rotating worm” style of play, according to Süddeutsche Zeitung) even scored with his right foot, they mocked.
All the German press agreed that City were lucky to concede just once before the interval, and as highbrow Die Zeit, the most widely read German weekly newspaper, suggested after the Frenchman’s goal:
“Little was to be seen thereafter from the home team. With loud boos the home fans gave, [and the players] crept to break into the cabin at half time, depressed.”
“When coach Manuel Pellegrini shook his team at the break, City started the second half well. But the rebellion did not last long. No sooner had Robben scored to make it 3-0 Bayern fans sang ‘Football is coming home.’”
Süddeutsche Zeitung ran the headline “Zick, zack, Flanke, Tor”, which means “zig, zag, cross, goal” — surely an ironic nod to the tiki-taka football, made up of short passing and movement, as made famous by Spain and Guardiola at his old club, Barcelona.
Jonas Beckenkamp’s match report asked “Finally a real opponent?” The boastful answer was: “Not at all! Bayern . . . disassembled the millionaires of Manchester City with great conviction and simple goals.
“Munich acted a class better. They were more nimble, more massive and were not prepared to proceed with understatement. — AFP.
Online Reporter