By Denis de Haas and Christian Paschwitz
December 16 – In an interview on German sports channel SPORT1’s Doppelpass Talk programme, former playing legend Paul Breitner who is now an advisor to the Bayern Munich board, said that the success of Bayern has much to do with the incompetence of their opponents. His comments have sparked rage and debate in Germany. Click on the video link to watch the excerpt from Doppelpass Talk.
On the pitch Breitner was considered the great strategist. But the big game thinker has turned attacker with his comments this week.
Breitner, looking at the level of Bayern in Europe in comparison to other clubs, said: “Maybe we would look at Real Madrid or FC Barcelona as challengers and say ‘Okay, against you we might lose’. But seriously, against whom is this team going to lose?! This team in its current formation can move even faster, it has the teeth to kill anyone! “
It was not just this statement that caused outrage. When others on the TV panel spoke out in support of the Bundesliga clubs, Breitner responded angrily: “We can do nothing about the inability of other clubs. And if we now have to bleed, have our money redistributed, that’s just nonsense!”
Bayern’s now famous “Department of attack” from Munich is becoming German folklore. The reaction on Facebook and Twitter was a full range of comments from “arrogance attack” to “right on Paul”.
The Breitner comments brought back memories of Matthias Sammer who also questioned the quality of Bayern’s competition in the Bundeliga. He wanted to “know without wanting to express criticism how other clubs will find the stability to challenge again.”
Sammer drew the ire of the other clubs in the league. Breitner has done the same.
But the statistics back Breitner up. Munich defeats are currently unimaginable.
Of their last 74 Bundesliga games Bayern have only lost two. And the defeats at FC Augsburg and Borussia Dortmund were only achieved when coach Pep Guardiola was rotating his squad. But it has now been eight months since those losses. December 2014 bets on Bayern look like a secure source of income.
Guardiola has also proved that in his system each player is replaceable. He is currently without exceptional players like Thiago, Javi Martinez, Philipp Lahm, David Alaba and Holger Badstuber.
Nevertheless, he can afford to continue to have top stars like Mario Götze and Thomas Müller on the bench coach.
But SPORT1 analyst and former German world champion Thomas Berthold had words of caution. “Paul Breitner should remember how it was last season. In the Champions League semi-final (against Real Madrid) Bavaria in both games had no chance. Real has more speed in the game and players with more momentum,” he said
Bottom of Form
For Berthold, Real are ahead of Bayern. He favours players like Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. “Last year they were faster with the ball than Bayern. So I have no idea how Paul comes to such a claim. The best team in the world is just Real Madrid.”
The Spring of 2015 will show whether Breitner is right about the Bayern stars. If they outdo the competition in the Champions League, the brand ambassador can celebrate as a clairvoyant,
But if FC Bayern fail, then Breitner will be labelled as just another Munich loudmouth.