They Might Be Giants
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October 2019 The German Times – Life 23 They might be giants Borussia Dortmund is eager to break the supremacy of FC Bayern Munich in Germany’s Bundesliga, and they finally have a realistic chance of doing so Bayern. Coaches sometimes even and publicly expressed doubts board members, Edmund Stoiber, BY THOMAS KISTNER preferred to rest their best players about the coach. even spoke openly of Hoeneß and for use in other league matches Last season, as Borussia Dort- his “quarrels with Kalle.” Stoiber he best news from the against eye-level rivals. Time and mund took advantage of the situ- was minister president of Bavaria Bundesliga, Germany’s again when Bayern was in town, ation at Bayern and pulled nine for many years and belongs to the Ttop-tier soccer league, is coaches didn’t even send their points in front and the Bavarians inner circle around Hoeneß, as that it looks like there will finally stars onto the pitch, with some descended deeper and deeper does Herbert Hainer, the long- be a real battle for the champi- coaches even openly admitting as into their morass. In October time CEO of Adidas. onship this season. Yet only two to why. 2018, Hoeneß and Rummenigge IMAGO/CONTRAST At the 2018 general assem- teams have greater than an out- A team that has the best play- attacked the media, which had bly meeting, it was made pain- side chance to vie for the title: ers but is never forced to play at criticized some of Bayern’s play- fully clear to Hoeneß that he had FC Bayern Munich and Borussia full capacity will eventually lose ers, and demanded more respect. lost the backing of many club Dortmund (BVB). a sense of its own abilities and It was a real-life satire whose only members. There were In the past seven years, the performance. If such a team then effect was to reveal for all to see unheard-of requests league has been dominated by enters the international arena and just how massive the mess in This season, BVB for him to leave, that perpetually number-one faces opponents that don’t auto- Munich really was. is focused on doing even whistle calls team, Bayern Munich, even matically see themselves as under- But then, in the middle of their everything right. and insults. One member even though they finished last season dogs just because Germany’s top deepest crisis in years, Bayern got They’ve strength- brought a North Korean flag with only one point ahead of the run- club is on the pitch, well, this can some help from the very club that ened their team in a the words “NOT MY PRESI- ner-up. In other words, a true lead to nasty surprises. should have been benefiting from comprehensive and tar- DENT” on it. Hoeneß has never head-to-head race – like the ones In 2013, Bayern Munich won the the turmoil: Dortmund. Bayern’s geted manner, making sure gotten over that. that take place on a regular basis Champions League against – of rival for the championship was to be able to compensate This dispute at the top is now in England and Spain – has not all teams – Dortmund. Since then, simply incapable of maintaining for the possible loss of Reus. poised to continue in other ways been seen in the Bundesliga for they’ve sputtered out once in the its comfortable lead through the And Hans-Joachim Watzke, as well. It’s all about Hoeneß and what feels like an eternity. In the quarterfinals and four times in the winter break, and repeatedly lost Dortmund’s CEO, has repeatedly his legacy. Hainer, his crony, is 2018/2019 season, Dortmund was semifinals. Last year, they didn’t to opponents from the bottom of expressed a clear goal: winning the set to take over as president of the first club to get nine points even make it to the final eight. the standings. And the Bavarians title. In other words, Dortmund Bayern Munich and also to hold ahead, only to then go on a ter- Under the leadership of their eventually caught up. unashamedly wants to the chief executive post on the rible losing streak and allow the long-time sovereigns, Uli Hoeneß At that point, it was Dort- be the next German supervisory board. Hoeneß him- Bavarians to catch up. At the end and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, mund’s turn to unwittingly champion. Fast forward: self will remain on the supervi- of the season, Bayern was back the club has been increasingly expose their own deep- BVB is betting on Dortmund’s sory board, and together they on top; not because they were so distracted by internal conflicts. seated flaws. On the one strong young talent Julian Brandt will coach a newcomer, their strong, but because Dortmund In addition, the club hired Niko hand, they lacked the cour- like Jadon Sancho, pick and the man set to replace was so weak. Kovac, a coach who enjoys the age to state directly that their Thorgan Hazard and Rummenigge in 2022: Oliver Bayern has managed to nab the confidence of only one of the top express goal was to win the cham- Bruun Larsen, each of about Pavard after his disappoint- Kahn. The former goalkeeping top spot for the previous six years, dogs – club president pionship. Coach Lucien Favre kept whom has the opportunity to ing season at VfB Stuttgart, which hero will make the move to Bay- with the only difference being that Hoeneß. Rum- on insisting he wanted to focus greatly increase his potential – and saw that team sink into relegation ern’s board in early 2020. Kahn the Bavarians were actually super menigge, Bayern “only so far as on the next game.” his market value – under coach in lackluster fashion. has signed a five-year contract and strong back then. In those years, Munich’s CEO, On the other hand, the team was Favre. Plus, Dortmund has found Bayern is a hard-boiled collec- insiders expect nothing less than the entire Bundesliga would run has repeatedly also unhealthily dependent one in Julian Brandt the ideal backup tive entirely accustomed to win- an all-out power struggle between out of breath trying to catch them. single player: Marco Reus. for Reus. Brandt is a technically ning, whereas Dortmund is a sen- Rummenigge and his soon-to-be So great was the advantage Reus is indeed one of the best strong and extremely dangerous sitive team that begins trembling successor. Many connoisseurs of Munich in the first half soccer players in Germany, but goal scorer capable of driving the as soon as things don’t go accord- doubt that “Killer Kalle” – Rum- of the season that things he is also highly prone to play forward, and he is also much ing to plan on the pitch. How- menigge’s nickname – will be able often got boring come injury. The 30-year-old more physically robust than the ever, this is only one side – the to fend off Kahn’s attempts to Christmas time. In has rarely been able to veteran captain Reus. In this sense, most visible one – of the rivalry jostle for power. 2014, Bayern clinched get through an entire at the beginning of the current between the two teams. In a dif- There are also plenty of other the championship season uninjured. season, BVB is plagued only by ferent realm, namely the manage- internal issues on the table, such on the 27th game Unfortunately, a key a few “luxury problems,” includ- ment level, something very fun- as coach Kovac and general man- day, with still seven player who only plays 22 ing having a place on the bench damental is changing. While the ager Hasan Salihamidžić. Neither matches yet to play. to 24 matches per year reserved for the 2014 World Cup well-rehearsed Dortmund team of these men enjoys unlimited This monoculture cannot be a true leader. hero Mario Götze. unites around their CEO Watzke support from the club or the play- was not good for This was on perfect display last By contrast, Bayern Munich and general manager Michael ers. German soccer, and the year in a game where Reus injured started the season in a slightly Zorc to pursue their mission to The 2019/2020 FC Bayern longer it lasted, the more Bayern himself once again and almost more chaotic state. They had win the championship title, at season is not just about winning Munich itself began to suffer from missed the rest of the season: sold one of their lead players, Bayern Munich, things still look championships, it’s about the it. For years, they had been major as part of the knock-out round Mats Hummels, to Dortmund, rocky. There is a dispute under- future, about the final showdown players in the Champions League, for the DFB Cup tournament, but otherwise it was quite late way at the top management level between two dinosaurs, both of almost always among the top four Dortmund was hosting Werder before they made any moves on that already severely hampered whom have made outstanding teams in Europe. But in the spring Bremen; the guests took the the transfer market. Unfortu- preparations for the new season contributions to the club, but of 2019, they exited in just the lead but the outstanding Reus nately, none of these moves looked – and it seems this dispute will who are now increasingly seen second elimination round, losing equalized just before the break. like the result of any type of real accompany the club throughout as outdated models.