May 12, 2012, ten years ago this Thursday: 75,708 fans in the Berlin Olympic Stadium and 13.55 million viewers in front of the television witnessed one of the most spectacular finals in the history of the cup.
With 5: 2, Dortmund humiliates Bayern and makes the double perfect. A week later, Bayern also lost the “final at home” (Champions League final in Munich against Chelsea).
BVB’s 5:2 changed German football. But not in the way that many assumed at the moment. BILD also wrote about the change of power at the time. The opposite was the case: Bayern became champions ten times in a row.
BVB sports director Michael Zorc (59): “In retrospect, we may have annoyed Bayern a little too much and the 5-2 win was too clear.”
Bavaria doesn’t hesitate.
► In 2012 world and European champion Javi Martínez comes from Atletic Bilbao for 40 million.
Because of the record transfer fee at the time, the negotiations dragged on until shortly before the end of the transfer. The course of the final meeting with Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Uli Hoeneß, Karl Hopfner and the new sports director Matthias Sammer shows how fixated the Bayern bosses were on becoming No. 1 again.
Rummenigge asks coach Jupp Heynckes about Martínez: “You know him best, Jupp. Is that the decisive man who ensures that a season like this without a title doesn’t happen again?”
Heynckes: “Yes.”
Rummenigge raises his hand and says: “Then I’m in favor of us making the transfer.” Suddenly everyone else raises their hands. Dante, Mandzukic and Shaqiri are also signed.
More transfers follow, which not only make Bayern stronger, but above all weaken BVB:
► 2013 super talent Mario Götze (then 21).
Pep Guardiola (2013 successor to triple coach Heynckes) would have preferred to sign Neymar, but Sammer is said to have explained to him that Götze was the German Neymar – who then shot Germany to the World Cup title.
► 2014 Robert Lewandowski, three-time BVB goal scorer in the memorable 5-2 final.
Rummenigge informed BVB boss Watzke in 2013 about Bayern’s interest. A change would probably have gone straight to the stage, but because of the already perfect Götze transfer, Watzke rejects it. Lewandowski comes on a free transfer in 2014. Defense chief Mats Hummels follows in 2016.
Roman Weidenfeller (41), BVB No. 1 at the time: “If the team from 2012 had stayed together in this constellation, BVB would certainly have won one or two more titles.”
★★★
378 days after the cup humiliation in Berlin, Bayern are beginning to cement the new balance of power. They will meet BVB in the Champions League final on May 25, 2013 in London. Both clubs are tense. You guessed: Whoever wins the game will be Germany’s No. 1 for years to come.
Bayern wins 2-1. And a week later he made the first treble in history in the DFB Cup final against Stuttgart.