CHELSEA return to the bright lights of the Champions League on the stage of their greatest European night.
The Blues won their maiden European title in the Allianz Arena in 2012, against hosts Bayern Munich.
AFPIt was at this same stadium that Chelsea won their first Champions League trophy in 2012[/caption]
GettyThat night Bayern were overwhelming favourites but Chelsea beat the odds to win the trophy[/caption]
Didier Drogba scored the winning penalty as Chelsea won 4-3
Bayern were firm favourites that night, but are now far from dead certs to challenge in the latter stages of the Champions League – the competition which really matters here.
While the 34-time German champions won the Covid impacted 2020 Champions League, they have just one semi-final appearance in the five seasons since.
And their pulling power over the Premier League appears to be on the wane.
Harry Kane and, more recently, Luis Diaz have moved from English football to Bavaria, but Bayern faced little Premier League competition for either.
Over this summer, however, they attempted to land both Florian Wirtz and Nick Woltemade, only to miss out to Liverpool and Newcastle respectively.
Bayern had been confident that they could land Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen, a deal that would have mirrored many they have done over the years – snapping up the brightest talent from across the Bundesliga.
Uli Honess, the Bayern legend and former president, had a close relationship with Wirtz’s father and helped arrange medical treatment following an ACL tear in 2022.
But that relationship was not enough to prevent a firm rebuttal from Germany international when it came to making an approach.
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Unlike many players before him, the playmaker decided to skip the Bayern Munich step in his career and head straight for the Premier League – a potentially worrying sign for the German giants.
Bayern have always been able to guarantee domestic success to those they nab from other clubs.
But Wirtz had already won the double with Leverkusen and was unconvinced by Bayern’s chances in the Champions League compared to the Premier League champions.
Bayern boss Vincent Kompany has blamed the Premier League’s endless pit of cash for the fact that they ended up with egg on their face for some very public pursuits of big targets.
But the Bundesliga champions were ready to pay whatever it took to land Wirtz, and still could not make it happen.
Asked recently why so many were swapping the Bundesliga for the Premier League, ex-Burnley boss Kompany said: “Money?
ReutersFlorian Wirtz turned down the chance to move to Bayern and instead picked Liverpool[/caption]
Nick Woltemade also preffered to move to Newcastle despite being tipped be the next big thing in German footballReuters
“The truth is I remember going with Burnley to the Premier League.
“All of a sudden you have TV money coming in and it’s £100m for promoted teams.
“So you go from a budget of £20-25m to £120m or £130m which in the Bundesliga you would compete with the top six, top eight.
“When Sunderland are buying players they are buying from Leverkusen and they are competing with AC Milan.
“That’s the financial reality.
“It is the nature of what they have been able to develop over many years, especially with the TV money.”
Premier League clubs certainly have more clout, but pleading poverty over Wirtz does not carry much weight.
Bayern were, worryingly for them, simply snubbed by one of the brightest talents in German football.
Woltemade, who made a club-record £69.3million switch to Newcastle despite at one time agreeing terms with Bayern, is a different story.
The German striker was ready and willing to move to the Allianz from Stuttgart, but Bayern put their foot down over the fee.
Kompany’s argument does stand up when it comes to the 23-year-old.
Bayern are by far the richest club in Germany, but still cannot afford to gamble nearly £70m on a striker who may not succeed.
Premier League clubs still have to be careful, but can afford far more expensive mistakes than even some of the biggest clubs on the continent.
Honess, speaking after the window, said: “There are different opinions. Max Eberl (sporting director) would have liked to buy, but we the supervisory board have to pay attention to our financial situation.
“That’s as important as sporting success.
“You have Barcelona as the best example of what happens when you only buy, buy, buy and then end up with debts of €1.2billion and can’t do anything.”
Chelsea are perhaps the greatest example of the Premier League’s spending power, having splashed over £1bn since the arrival of their American owners three years ago.
And while Bayern are hardly short of cash, they have a good chance to show that English money is not everything in Europe tonight.
PAThey ended up signing Luis Diaz who Liverpool were happy to let go[/caption]
GETTYThey also signed Nicolas Jackson who was surplus to requirement at Chelsea[/caption] Creator – [#item_custom_dc:creator]
