01x01 - Wendepunkte

[bunniefuu]

Have you closed that match?

Er...

The year 2012

was the most painful in
the history of FC Bayern.

Germany's best team no longer came from Munich.

They humiliated us.

In quotation marks.

You can also leave them out,

put an exclamation mark after it.

It came from Dortmund.

The German championship went to Dortmund.

The DFB Cup went to Dortmund.

But we always said:
"The Champions League!"

We're in the Champions League final at home.

Bayern were the first team in Champions League
history to reach the final in their own stadium.

They lost it.

They lost it.
On penalties.

That situation will never happen again.

I'll never get to play
a Champions League final at home again.

When you have the chance
to win the Champions League

at your own stadium,

and you fail,
in that manner...

Then you can't say
it's completely closed in any way.

Teams can crumble because of that.

That's not it for us yet.

That's just not it.

That can't be it.

Not this team.

This is the story of this team.

Subtitle Extracted by: Aren Zohrabi

We had the belief.

We want to become
Champions League winners together.

And that was the history
that this team had from previous years.

That we'd failed
but always kept believing.

We want to win this title.

The story starts

The story starts
back in the 2008/09 season.

We had success with the national team
at the World Cup 2006.

At the European Championship 2008
we got to the final.

And with Bayern, we weren't yet really

in a position to say:
"Yes, we can win the Champions League."

The club were regularly
in the quarter-finals,

round of 16,
but there we were more like

the team that got knocked out
in the quarter-finals at the latest,

because the opponents then
were just too strong.

My goal in my career, with Bayern Munich
and with the national team, was always

to get as far as possible,
to be among the best.

And especially a game
like the one against Barcelona,

that certainly opened our eyes
to how far away we still were.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTER-FINAL

I'm still grateful to FC Barcelona today

that the coach obviously told them

to go a bit more gently in the second half,
so that it didn't become a debacle.

We were given a nice
demonstration by Barcelona.

They played real tiki-taka
with us.

With Messi, we had Eto'o up front,
we had Henry,

we had speed and we had physical strength.

I was sinking deeper and deeper
into my seat.

You stood on the pitch and thought,

you're playing against 14 Barcelona players.

We had the ball the whole time.

Bayern could hardly breathe.

When you lose 4-0 as FC Bayern,

then you know about it.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, what's your summary

or your impression or your shock
after this performance?

Yes, I think we were all shocked.

Were there moments, particularly in
the first half, when you were ashamed

to be captain of the team?

Yes...

The fact is there will
obviously be discussions.

There'll be discussions about the coach.

Yes...

CHAPTER 1
TURNING POINT

We at FC Bayern were looking for
a man who has his own opinion,

who tries new things, who
deals with young people.

With Jürgen it was like...
That was quite a crazy situation.

We already knew in October, November 2007

that the Hitzfeld era would
come to an end on 30th June 2008.

Then something happened

that was fundamental to the story.

Karl-Heinz came one morning and said:

''I had an idea last night.

We try to get Jürgen Klinsmann."

He always saw football very physically,
just as he played himself,

very concerned about fitness
and stamina.

Jürgen Klinsmann had an unbelievable ability
to motivate people.

He certainly changed a lot with us.

The training sessions, the training content.

Jürgen Klinsmann placed a lot of
value on fitness.

But he also set an example of that,
you have to say,

set an example of professionalism.

Klinsmann was a good guy.

A coach with a good mentality.

We can always do that during the season too,
you know?

When a player wants to know: "Where
do I stand right now? Where am I right now?"

Nice holiday?

Brief, but okay.

Zé, look: Marcelo [Martins],
a Brazilian, okay?

Have you spoken to him already?
Martin [Vásquez],

Darcy [Norman], Thomas [Wilhelmi] you know,

Nick [Theslof], Jürgen.

Okay? Welcome back!

The Jürgen Klinsmann team

was certainly quite large
for its time.

There were several people,
there were Americans there,

fitness coaches, technical
coaches and everything.

With Klinsmann

we were immediately in a situation

in which results weren't good.

We hadn't won, but at Bayern
you always have to win.

The culture of FC Bayern is hunger.

You always have hunger for more.

Always: what's the next title?

What's the next target?

Always this must-win.

The expectations are

already predefined at FC Bayern
in a natural way.

The wishful thinking is always
to go into the season,

win both domestic trophies

and compete well in Europe.

Okay, we can improve here. And then we always
have to do it like this, when we now say...

He initiated a tremendous amount here.

The club was a bit crusty,

in the squad, in the training facilities

and certain structures that we had here.

He cleaned up a lot
and did a lot of new things.

That helped FC Bayern very much.

That was an idea of the architects

who refurnished the performance centre.

I didn't know about it
and then I saw them,

like the players.

So I never had anything to do with the Buddhas.

The training ground completely developed.

With the investment, with the building
and everything

you certainly noticed
that Säbener Street changed.

But in the team
you didn't notice that as much.

It all started very sluggishly,
and then we gradually got going.

Bundesliga was more sluggish. In the
Champions League we actually had no problems.

It was really phenomenal
how the boys played there.

I'd say it was okay,
but what is okay for FC Bayern?

You always have the highest standards
and we wanted to go down a new route.

And really develop the team,
in our style of play too.

We weren't as dominant as people
are used to from FC Bayern.

We lost 5-1 at Wolfsburg
and 4-0 at Barcelona.

And there it was already
4-0 at half-time.

On their day,
Barcelona are Barcelona.

And particularly at that time,
they were just at their absolute peak.

I think football always
goes in cycles,

and it was Barcelona's turn back then.

It just wasn't doable.

You know yourself,
at FC Bayern you don't

have the time,
after such a humiliation,

after such a debacle, to say:
"There, we can take that."

And clearly encounters like that
always open the club's eyes, I think.

Where do you want to go?
What do you actually want to achieve?

At FC Bayern that's always
the maximum.

And then when you go down 4-0
at Barcelona, you know that's a long way off.

The ideas of football weren't right.

That had nothing whatsoever
to do with interpersonal relationships, though.

We had a very, very good
relationship until the end.

Obviously we then parted after a year

because we just had different ways of thinking.

And that's also normal in football.

I don't know whether
his style of football

might have prevailed in one or two years.

And therefore I learned a huge amount
from that year,

with all the bumps and the frictions I
obviously had, with Uli and everyone around.

So, everyone please take your seats!

Right, I'm sitting down.

In 2009 I was at FC Bayern for six weeks
and helped out. For five games.

We had Jupp for a short time as,
let's say

— although it doesn't do him justice —
an SOS coach.

And then it went well.
Then it went well. Quite simple.

In those five games,
which weren't that easy either,

we had to somehow make sure
we finished in the Champions League places.

But you noticed:
the team is alive again.

The joy came back
and you noticed that immediately.

I have a feel

for people, particularly in football.

What's important is the team management,

the man management,
the communication with the players,

keeping a grip
on the dressing room.

He wasn't paid a cent.

We just agreed that he'd get a bonus

if we achieved European qualification.

And thankfully we did.

At that time
there were also frequent changes of coach,

more frequent than before
with Ottmar Hitzfeld,

who was there for a really long time.

I think a new kind of football
then evolved in 2009.

SÄBENER STREET

- Louis, is that right?
- Louis!

- Van?
- Van! - Then Gaal?

Very good! With "Ch", not "K"! Van Gaal!

Louis van Gaal.

He somehow suited FC Bayern
at that time.

He was an incredibly dominant person,
not always fun.

He had his own mind.

The Bavarian attitude to life

fits me like a warm coat.

Why? Why?

A proud man!
You noticed that immediately.

Mia san mia. We are we.

And I am I.

I am I — yes, I said that
already in the press conference.

It wasn't easy because he said

what he thought.

Confident, arrogant,
dominant, honest, hardworking,

innovative,

but also

warm and familiar.

He had a belief in himself,

but I would say he also
had a belief in the team.

He helped to get the club
going at that time.

Especially Rummenigge and Hoeneß

like to play like Ajax Amsterdam,
when I was the coach there,

with the vision

of that playing style.

And that vision is the
Louis van Gaal vision.

You've brought your colleagues
with you here.

Do you want to introduce them?

Yes, I can gladly introduce my staff.

Andries Jonker, a multifaceted coach.

He was also my assistant at FC Barcelona.

Day one at Säbener Street.

And you notice immediately that

everyone's very curious:

What's coming now?

Who's new?
What will they do?

How will it turn out?

I often compare it with school days,

when you get a new teacher.

I mean, you're curious.

It was a bit tricky,
the relationship with van Gaal...

I'm direct, I'm honest
and I can be irritated.

But that's Louis van Gaal.

And I still remember
that during training

he was very loud to the players.

And then sometimes the spectators shouted:
"That's good! Be clear with them!"

I thought to myself: "Eek!"

You do that too!
On it, boom! Here, Christian!

I am a communicator.

And I think that's very important.

Because you have to convince players
of your vision.

Every player can sh**t a ball
from A to B.

And when you do that at the right moment,
you are a great football player.

But a football player
is also a human being,

and he shall be influenced
by his environment.

And that is also important.

That is why I like to speak
with all the players individually,

so that I know: what is their ambition,
what is the best position of the player,

and how can I use the performance
of that particular player?

And then I play the system

that gives strengths
to the players I use.

That's the reason the
'total human being principle'

is so important for me, because you
can touch them directly in their own language.

Yes, you felt from day one:

they weren't used to that.

Louis van Gaal was someone

who you knew valued discipline.

I think the team also needed that.

Someone who gives you clear standards.

It was important at that moment in time.
I'd say it also gave all of us a direction.

And I think, from that point,
something developed.

You know

Hermann.

Hermann is also my assistant.

It wasn't that enjoyable for me
because he said:

"Hermann, I'll see how it goes,
and if it's not working,

I'll get someone else after six weeks."

The reason I kept Hermann Gerland

was because he knows the youth department.

He knows the players in the youth.

After two or three weeks, we sat down
and Louis said to me:

"We'll ask Hermann
how he rates the players."

We went through the whole player list

and at Badstuber Hermann said:

"He'll be an international."

Louis said:
"But he hasn't played yet."

"He'll be an international!"

Nice to hear!

I also got the feeling

that there was a coaching team
there who believed in you

and who might throw you in at the deep end.

He walked over to me,
I walked over to him.

We shook hands.

He was five to 10 centimetres
away from me.

Then we introduced ourselves.

"Are you Holger Badstuber?"

- "Yes."
- "Nice to have you here."

And then we went further
down the list,

and a few players later came Thomas Miiller.
And Hermann said:

"He'll play for the national team."

And Louis said: "What, another one?"

He was pretty certain, was he?

He had a good day there, 'El Tigre'.

Of course, Louis also played a big part
in the development of both players.

They gave a fresh air in the group
and that is very important.

You have to give young players the chance
when they deserve it.

And we did that.

In retrospect it was then said:
"Yes, van Gaal always relies on young players."

It wasn't like he said:

"Okay, my friends, I've just bought Mario Gómez,
I've got Miro Klose here,

I've got Luca Toni. Three players
who between them have scored hundreds of goals,

I just don't need them
because they can't do anything."

That's garbage.

"Because I want young players,
they're so much better."

Instead it was like:
we had a difficult August.

We had a difficult start to the season
under van Gaal, who tried out a lot.

We didn't come through, we had no attacking play
and there was pressure straight away.

We lost at Mainz.

A draw at home to Bremen.

He then wanted to move Franck Ribéry
more into the middle.

But he said,
he's a left winger.

I played for two years, under Hitzfeld
and Klinsmann, without problems on the left.

I played incredibly well
there for two years.

Then van Gaal thought:

How can I play a 4-3-3
with this squad?

I'm actually lacking
the right winger.

And that is why I had a question mark

behind the name of Ribéry.

But when Robben was coming,

I had the possibility

to play with two wingers.

And during this time Mark van Bommel
made a lot of effort

to convince Louis and the board
that Arjen Robben would help us.

I played with him for three years in Eindhoven,
in the national team as well.

An outstanding player
in the category of Ribéry.

Difficult transfer, very difficult transfer
because he was playing at Real Madrid,

and we'd already been interested
in Arjen when he was at Chelsea.

He's very important
for every team.

I don't understand why
Madrid are letting him go.

But hey, that's their idea.

And I'd always kept in touch

with Arjen's father
and I said to him:

"When it's right,
perhaps we'll still come together."

And then I called Florentino [Pérez]
in Madrid,

and said:
"We're interested in the player.

What are the transfer fee demands?"

It was 25 million that he demanded.

And then we said:
"We'll give it a go."

I recall the day after,
Louis van Gaal was coach,

he only put him on the bench
against Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga.

We had the feeling
that we had to win this game.

If not, I don't know.

And then van Gaal,
in typical van Gaal manner of course,

sent Arjen on.

I still remember vividly the substitution
against Wolfsburg, when he came on,

and you noticed immediately: "Oh my
God, that's working brilliantly up front."

Robben, Robben, and it's 2-0!

Left, right,

we were like two trains
on the left and right.

Robben,

and in front is Ribéry,

and Robben moves inside. Ribéry!

One-two, one-two, boom, goal.

Look at what's happening here!

Look at this!
That's why they have a Ribéry and a Robben.

That was nice.

It was actually the beginning

of the great story.

The second half against Wolfsburg

was obviously something pretty special.

And yes, they're also the
moments you never forget.

I had a nice time everywhere.

I'm grateful for all of it.

I was in Madrid for two years.

At Chelsea three years.

I experienced good times there too,

but the 10 years at Bayern

were definitely my best years.

But you did actually
have some doubts, didn't you?

Yes, yes.

But that's logical.
Because, like you say,

Bayern at that time

weren't among the best teams
in Europe.

And my goal, my dream was still
absolutely to win

the Champions League
and so of course I was...

With Chelsea I got to two semi-finals,

then you go to Madrid,
where there's obviously always the chance,

and then you certainly have
a good think before leaving such a big club.

There were certainly some doubts
and I still wasn't 100 percent convinced.

But in the end I was.

Then I was really convinced
and Bayern made a lot of effort.

I just... That's also always...
I'm a bit of an emotional person.

And Bayern really showed me:

"We desperately want you
to come here!"

And then I was convinced and said:
"Okay, I'll do it." And I threw myself into it.

I then had problems with my knee.

And then Arjen instantly got injured.

And it became quite difficult.

The philosophy of the club
was to play 1-4-4-2,

which is also how the team was organised.

Philipp Lahm still played on the left side.

Bastian Schweinsteiger was used
to playing on the right side.

I think I always did my best
in that position,

although I always knew myself:

really I'm a central midfielder.

And Jupp Heynckes then deployed me
in central midfield.

Louis van Gaal liked my performances
so much

that he then kept me
in central midfield.

When you play with Schweinsteiger
in the right winger position,

and he doesn't have the characteristics,
he shall not be the great Schweinsteiger.

And that is why I changed the positions.

Philipp Lahm was left full-back.

And I changed that.

He has to be right full-back.

And there he was the great Philipp Lahm.

Then we switched to a 1-4-3-3 system.

We figured out that Thomas Miiller
could be an amazing number 10.

An athletically brilliant number 10

with great sense for the spaces.

He was a player

who was playing between the lines.

And he was also a player

who could attack but also could defend
and also could press.

Because we were always pressing our opponents.

And then, obviously,
things started to fall into place a bit.

For me and above all for the team.

Then the team did a bit better.

Yes, and then the style
of our play evolved.

We played better.
But we still weren't successful yet.

You have to look for the good spaces.

I had to convince the players
to play in another way.

In the beginning we didn't win too much,
so it was very difficult —

also for Rummenigge and Hoeneß.
That I can understand.

The coach believes in it.

The coaching team believe.
We'll get there.

It just needs a bit of time.

Active! Forward!

I say our key game of the season,

and Louis will also say this
in hindsight,

was against Juventus.

'The turning point.'

We had our backs against the wall.

We had to win in Turin
to progress from the group stage.

You always wait for a big match
to see:

Are we at the same level?

Or are we playing at a different,
better level?

'Death or gladioli' match
in the Champions League!

When you realise

that the confidence,
the development is there,

you have no fear!

You know the potential is there,
you have the weapons.

And then you also don't panic
when you concede a goal.

We stay calm, we keep going.

We were confident
we could turn the game around.

We were 1-0 down
and had to win the game.

And then there was a penalty.

We always trained the way
we have to take penalties.

And Hans Jörg Butt
was one of the best.

And then we sent Hans Jörg forward.

I said:
"Stick it in!"

I also remember

that Bastian Schweinsteiger
called me forward with him.

The coach also said before the game
that I'm the number one penalty taker.

I was able to focus
on situations very well.

I think that's also an ability
you need in general as a goalkeeper.

And I just didn't think about it
at that moment.

Then he stuck the ball in,

ran back past me to the goal.

And then we played very well
for the rest of the game.

We flourished more and more,
we were assured in our passing,

we hardly allowed any more chances
and then we got going.

That was an important moment for me.

Because then we really

felt that we can do more.

And because of that
there's suddenly a different body language.

Something happened then.

Bayern suddenly got another level.

That match was the moment
when the players were convinced of the tactics,

of how we have to play.

The players understood it
better at that time

and also understood more and more in the
subsequent games what they had to do as a team.

And then Arjen Robben came back,

and then it came together
and it started to function.

And from that time on,
I think we didn't lose any more.

And then we went on a run
in the Bundesliga,

won 10 games in a row
— and that obviously makes an impression.

Robben! It's in.

What a great header!

5-1 for Bayern Munich.

That was simply good.

We were always a team,
in terms of the personalities...

we were certainly biting
and we knew

what we need in order to win,

or rather we knew what we had to invest
in order to be able to win.

And then we went into
the match against Florence.

I don't think at that moment
it was yet

so convincingly strong

that you could say:
"Yes, okay, Florence — we'll win that easily."

No.

Yes, if we're completely honest,
we also had a fair portion of fluke

and also in that season, in those moments,
Arjen Robben on our side.

We just battled well

as a team and always believed in ourselves.

I think that year was the start

of what then grew over the years.

Bayern Munich.

Will play against...

QUARTER-FINAL DRAW

Should I say Sir Alex

or Mister Ferguson? What do you prefer?

Call me Alex, it doesn't matter.

Call me what you like.