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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Is this Bayern Munich Team the Greatest Ever?


72 goals scored with only 11 conceded.

20 points ahead of the next best team in the league with 10 games to go. 

16 wins in a row.

Only one loss in all leagues all season. 




This is the story of Bayern Munich in 2013-14 so far, at this stage well on course for an unprecedented second consecutive Bundesliga/DFB Pokal/Champions League treble - and on course to be confirmed as the greatest club football side ever. 

Even if they don't quite pull off the treble this season, Pep Guardiola's side should still be regarded as one of the best club football sides we've ever witnessed.



The football they've played in the league and in Europe has been just unbelievable. Right now, they are at their very best, having scored 20 goals in the last 6 league games, an incredible average of 3.33 goals per game. 

Not only do they have a phenomenal attack, they have a pretty mean defense letting in just 2 goals during those same 6 games.



It is a complete team by any stretch of the imagination even if it is not quite a team of stars like Real Madrid's or Barcelona's. Pep Guardiola has assembled the best of Bayern, i.e. Manuel Neuer, Jerome Boateng, David Alaba, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery, Thomas Muller, Toni Kroos, Phillipp Lahm and Mario Mandzukic and turned them into a mimic of the great Barcelona team of 2008-2011 with a bit more defensive muscle and German tectonic efficiency.

While Mario Mandzukic has been top goal scorer, the goals have definitely been coming from all parts of the park, whether it's Thomas Muller, Arjen Robben, Frank Ribery, Toni Kroos or even David Alaba or Dante lumbering forward.


It is incredible to see how in just 7 months Bayern Munich have adapted to the ethos of football that Guardiola first preached at the Camp Nou - Mario Gotze has become the Andres Iniesta of Bavaria while Dante has emerged as a real leader at the back just like Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique were at Barca.

The Bundesliga and DFB Pokal are well within Bayern's sights - barring an incredible, unprecedented but highly unlikely collapse, the league title is Bayern Munich's and Bayern just have to overcome second division Kaiserslautern to make the DFB Pokal Final. On the other hand, Bayern's Champions League hopes will really come down to the luck of the draw and whether Bayern will avoid the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona before making the Final in Lisbon.

Remember this?
If they do, Bayern fans will very much sense that 2014 is going to be yet another special year - let's not forget that they did the treble last year under Jupp Heyneckes and a second consecutive treble will establish this Bayern Munich as the greatest club side ever for sure - no side has ever achieved the league/cup/Europe treble in two seasons, including Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, a side often considered the greatest club side ever. 

And considering that it wasn't long ago when we saw Guardiola manage the likes of Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol, etc. to European and league success with Barcelona with the best football ever played, aren't football fans truly blessed to see two of the greatest club sides ever assembled. 








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