Bayern Munich V Inter Milan – Saturday, 22nd May (UEFA Champions League)

May 20th, 2010 / Matt

Bayern Munich V Inter Milan

Competition: UEFA Champions League – Final

Kick-off: Saturday, 22nd May – 19:45 (GMT)

Coverage: ITV1

The 2009-2010 UEFA Champions League final will be a momentous occasion for several reasons, the first being this years rendition of the greatest club competition in Europe having been scheduled for a Saturday night. No previous Champions League final, nor the old format of the competition, has ever been played on a Saturday night meaning the two teams involved, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, will set their name in stone by being the first teams ever to contest a Saturday night Champions League final, while the victorious party will claim sole rights to being the first to reign supreme on a Saturday.

Secondly, both these two teams are out to put the record straight, with Bayern Munich looking to secure their fifth European crown while Inter Milan are out to end a 45 year drought without winning Europe’s biggest club competition. There will also be this intriguing battle between two of the game’s brightest tacticians in Bayern’s Louis Van Gaal and Inter’s Jose Mourinho, of which both are on the verge of joining an illustrious few to win the competition with two different clubs.

What we also have here is two domestic champions, as well as two teams on the verge of completing an historic treble. Bayern Munich secured their twenty-second German league title, as well as winning the DFB-Pokal trophy last Saturday in comprehensive fashion. Inter, however, have been equally impressive winning the Coppa Italia last month before later clinching their fifth successive Seria A title on the final day of an exciting season, also on Saturday. Only two clubs previously have successfully completed the perfect treble and they were Manchester United and Barcelona. One of these two teams will write their name into the history books.

So, who will reign supreme in Spain? The German powerhouses led by the wise Louis van Gaal, or will it be Jose Mourinho‘s time to bask in the European glory for the second time in six years with the Italians?

Bayern Munich will look to join an elite list of clubs to have won Europe’s biggest club competition five times when they entertain Italian maestros Inter Milan at Real Madrid’s famous Santiago Bernabeu stadium. 2001 was the year when Bayern Munich last competed in a Champions League, with the Bavarians winning a nervy affair with Valencia via penalties. On a night where the pressure really will be on the Bayern players, the 40-odd thousand travelling Bavarians could well be in for another nervy night as the German champions seek out a fifth European crown.

The Road to Spain: It’s been an unconvincing Champions League campaign for Louis Van Gaal’s Bayern Munich, with their European fate almost sealed when clashing with Juventus in Turin needing only a win to save their Champions League life. That was the first of many ‘crunch’ games for the Germans, who had their poor and inconsistent showing through the group stage to thank for their ‘must win’ scenario in their final group outing. However, the irony is Juventus would become the first of two Italian sides Bayern would despatch along the way to their dream final where an Italian side would again need to be slayed in order to lifted the coveted trophy aloft for a fifth time. The second came in the very next round when they met Fiorentina in the last-sixteen. After earlier winning the home leg 2-1, Bayern starred exit once again in the face when going 3-1 down in Florence before Dutch Wizard Arjen Robben popped up with a wonder-goal to save Bayern’s bacon. The latter would soon become a feature in Bayern’s progression through the knock-out stage, as Bayern seemingly met their match in Manchester United, winning the first leg 2-1 but trailing 3-0 in the second and decisive away leg before another stunning comeback, another wonder-goal from Arjen Robben. The semi-finals, however, went rather smoothly for a team which had previously strived to make progression as tough as possible; beating Lyon 3-0 in France after a 1-0 win in Germany.

If Bayern’s European adventure up till now has told us anything it is they like to do things the hard way, and if they follow the same philosophy on Saturday night, we’re sure to be in for another entertaining game of football involving the Munich giants. This season especially, even in their domestic campaign, Louis Van Gaal has focused more on Bayern’s attacking attributes, using the forward talent of Ivica Olic, Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben to his and Bayern’s advantage. In many respects, although Van Gaal would never de-value the back four’s efforts, defending went out the window to some extent as Bayern have built a successful Champions League bid upon the basis of ‘we’ll score more than you’. Under Van Gaal Bayern aren’t a defence minded team, they play in one way and that’s in a ruthless, attacking manner, and even though Saturday’s clash with Inter is arguably the biggest game of a so far fruitful season, we expect nothing less than the same aggressive approach from the newly crowned German champions.

Franck Ribery’s suspension does, unfortunately, throw a spanner in the Bayern works as Van Gaal will need to make some crucial adjustments. What Bayern as a team lose in Ribery’s absence is some explosive play in the final, a player with no fear when entering into the final third of the pitch and one of those rarities in today’s game in that the French winger, despite a turbulent season, is more than capable of turning up and putting in one of those sublime displays worthy of winning a competition of this magnitude. Instead, it would appear as though Van Gaal will recruit Hamit Altintop as a make-shift left-midfielder. The Turkish midfielder has only been a bit-part player at the club since his move back in 2007 but he looks the only like-for-like replacement, if there is such a replacement for a player of Ribery’s calibre. Baring all this in mind, it’s fair to say that Bayern, on paper anyway, don’t look as formidable up front as they would with Ribery in the team. They will, of course, have the Dutch wizard of Arjen Robben done the right, a player which has single handily revived Bayern’s European dream on more than one occasion, but on the biggest stage of them all can Louis Van Gaal and Bayern Munich really rely upon another magical display from Robben to land them their fifth European title?

For Inter Milan, It will seem an eternity this wait for a Champions League trophy, and the 22nd May in sunny Spain could be the beautiful setting which sees Inter Milan finally end their 45 year wait for Europe’s biggest prize. The conductor behind Inter Milan’s change in European fortune, the Special One, of course. Jose Mourinho, like his opposite number, will have eyes only for his second Champions League winners medal when his well oiled and well drilled Milan side take on the aggressive Bayern Munich in a game which earlier in the season was being described as the ‘dream’ by Mourinho.

The Road to Spain: The ‘dream’ started with a tough draw at the very first hurdle, being drawn alongside reigning European champions Barcelona. A draw and a defeat to the Catalan wasn’t the best, nor did it silence the many Mourinho and Inter Milan critics, but Inter did just enough in a tight and exciting Group F to make the knock-out stage, where Mourinho’s former club Chelsea awaited Inter. Only a few gave Inter Milan much hope against the now English champions, but Mourinho masterminded the first of many several defeats when beating the Blues from England 2-1 at San Siro before etching out a hard-fought 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge. In the quarter-finals, though, was a Russian side thriving off their underdog status in CSKA Moscow. Inter, though, were defying the odds themselves after claiming the scalp of Chelsea in the last-sixteen stage, beginning to show the first signs that the Nerazzurri were finally a force to be reckoned with in Europe, and two 1-0 wins in both legs sent Jose Mourinho and Inter head first into a tantalising battle with Barcelona for the third and fourth time this season. It was a game plugged up as ‘Mourinho V Messi’, the tactician against the sublime Argentinian. Who won, who else, Jose Mourinho. Inter produced a scintillating display in the first leg to take a 3-1 victory over to Spain, where Mourinho later produced his second master-stroke of the competition, engineering Inter to the biggest aggregate victory for many a year, beating last years winners 3-2 on aggregate after a master-class from the Italians in defending.

Like Bayern Munich, who recently claimed a league and cup double, Inter Milan will arrive in Spain with two trophies, also the league and the Italian cup, and desperately seeking an historic treble. Jose Mourinho has never endeared himself to the Italian public nor has the Inter Milan fans taken to the bumptious Portuguese manager, but victory at the Bernabeu in arguably the clubs biggest ever fixture and Mourinho’s wavering reputation in Italy would be all but wiped clean, whilst entering into Inter Milan folklore. How has Mourinho pulled off such a feat? Through being a managerial genius. In every single knock-out game, Jose Mourinho has got his tactics spot on, while his players have implemented Mourinho’s game-plan to perfection. It’s been a prime example of how when a manager and a team work together in unison, great things can happen.

On Saturday, though, Mourinho and Inter Milan will get just one shot at glory. This fantastic pairing has produced the goods on every other occasions so far but can they deliver the final package when the pressure is well and truly on? Moreover, does anyone really know how Mourinho will set Inter Milan up? The Italian champs have proven that they are both capable of defending for prolonged periods of time and scoring goals in a clinical manner, but with the next 90 minutes being on neutral ground and no second chance legs to recover, will Jose Mourinho counter Bayern’s aggression with some forceful play of his own? That’s the beauty of Mourinho; no-one really knows what’s going round in his head. One thing is for sure, there hasn’t been an Inter side as good as the current crop, a more confident or self believing Inter Milan for quite some time… 45 years in fact. Will 2010 finally be their year?

Inter Milan To Lift The Trophy – 1.57 Boylesports

Considering Bayern Munich are a little over evens to lift the Champions League trophy for a fifth time, our pick of Inter Milan to end their lengthy drought with a European trophy may sound a tad illogical and bizarre. However, with Jose Mourinho’s tactical nous at the helm, it’s terribly difficult to look past the Italians finalising a dream run in the Champions League with a winning finish.

What Inter Milan have that Bayern Munich perhaps don’t is a man capable of masterminding any teams downfall, with Milan’s scalp of the current champions Barcelona the evidence to back up my statement. Mourinho is a tactical genius, arguably the greatest tactician currently in management, and add that into the mix of Inter Milan producing some of their best European displays for years and you’ve got a winning Champions League final formula. Or so we think.

We wouldn’t dare try to sum up how we think either side will set up and play on Saturday, as even we are somewhat in the dark. However, what we do have is two of the most successful teams in Europe right now, both desperate to cap an incredible season with the biggest cherry on the cake. Bayern have an array of forward talent, ready and waiting to explode, but their defence and midfield isn’t the strongest. Inter Milan, though, are a more complete package. So well organised at the back, at times impenetrable, a midfield led by a wise Esteban Cambiasso, capable of taking this final by the scruff of the neck, and an effective forward pairing of Samuel Eto and Diego Milito, the latter especially outstanding this season. The more we sit and think the more we edge towards Mourinho’s Inter.