In 2013 Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund beat Real Madrid and Barcelona to progress to the final of the Champions League. Bayern would eventually come out 2-1 winners, but it would be German football that came out the real winners after the semi final performances showed that the teams had dominance over the rest of Europe.
After seeing them dismantle two of the biggest teams in European football, everyone thought that Germany would be the powerhouses of European football for years to come. Sadly for Bayern, and the rest of the country, last nights result against FC Porto showed that isn’t the case. Despite being away from home in the first leg, Bayern were the heavy favorites to return to the semi-finals for a fourth year in a row. However, Porto produced one of their greatest nights in Europe.
The Portuguese side came out all guns blazing in the first half and were given a great opportunity early on when Manuel Neuer tripped striker Jackson Martinez in the box. Ricardo Quaresma calmly slotted the penalty away to put his side a goal up. Seven minutes later Porto were two up when Dante was disposed by Quaresma who ran through and slotted his second just ten minutes into the match.
Thiago pulled one back for Bayern on the half hour mark, but Martinez grabbed a brilliant third to put Porto in a great position going into the second leg at the Allianz Arena next Tuesday. The result was the first big win in the UCL for Porto since Jose Mourinho won the trophy with them in 2004. But does this result show the issues surrounding German football today?
After having two German teams in the final in 2013 both Dortmund and Bayern were eliminated in last season’s knockout stages by Real Madrid. Few can forget the embarrassing 4-0 defeat Madrid laid on Bayern in Munich, in a year in which many predicted Pep Guardiola’s men to go on to become the first team to retain the trophy in the modern era.
Obviously Bayern can turn things around in the second leg, but the result can’t be ignored and Bayern will be judged by the rest of the world if Porto can hold on and progress to the last four.
However at least you can say they are in a better position than Dortmund who were eliminated by Juventus in the last round. They look to be facing a couple of years away from Europe as they sit in tenth place in the Bundesliga going into the last weeks of the season. The Champions League is now out of reach and the poor season has resulted in manager Jurgen Klopp announcing his departure from the club at the end of the season. As bad as it is to lose their manager, many fans believe that this will result in the departure of many key players such as Marco Reus, Mats Hummels and Ilkay Gundogan.
At this time Wolfsburg are among the favourites to win the Europa League, but that’s a huge step down from the success of 2013. Germany can still turn things around and become a feared country in Europe once again, but right now the path they’re on shows a pretty bleak future.