German championship title
“Shaping an era”: Bayern women plan dominance
Bayern Munich’s President Herbert Hainer hugs Giulia Gwinn after winning the German championship. photo
© Marius Becker/dpa
They are champions for the second time in a row, have been unbeaten for more than a year and a half and have the double in mind: FC Bayern’s female footballers want to be as dominant as the men have recently been.
The men’s championship series is broken, now they want to FC Bayern Munich women have dominated German football for years.
“I am convinced that you can shape an era,” said CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen after winning the German championship early. And President Herbert Hainer, who traveled with us despite the men’s top game in Stuttgart, said: “No matter where in professional sport: FC Bayern wants to be at the top. Our goal is to be top both in Germany and in Europe.”
In the Champions League, the team of Norwegian coach Alexander Straus was already eliminated in the group phase. But nationally the season is impressive: the defense of the title is already certain after the third-to-last match day.
Early champions in Leverkusen – that’s something
The Bayern women have been unbeaten in league games for a year and a half, on Thursday they will win the double in the cup final against long-term rivals VfL Wolfsburg and Lena Oberdorf, a key player from Wolfsburg, is moving to Munich for the German record fee of 400,000 euros. Dreesen classified the title as “another chapter in this success story that is far from over.”
Hainer commented with a smile that the decisive step was taken with the 2-1 win at Bayer Leverkusen in the adjacent stadium to the BayArena. “It’s of course a nice story that we lose the men’s title to Leverkusen and then win it here with the women.” Before the Leverkusen coup, the Munich men had become champions eleven times in a row.
This is now the standard for women. “Congratulations! You achieved what we couldn’t do,” admitted men’s coach Thomas Tuchel without envy. And captain Manuel Neuer also warmly congratulated: “We are super happy that our women have achieved this again – congratulations.”
“We are far from reaching the limit”
The two teams have grown together in the club. This shows the value of the women’s team. And is a secret of success. “The continuous and targeted work of all those responsible over the past few years and the commitment within the entire club are important building blocks for the sustainable success of FC Bayern,” said DFB sports director Nia Künzer. “The fact that our president was here even though the men are playing in Stuttgart shows how important we are for the club. That’s the mia san mia that everyone is talking about,” said coach Straus.
The 48-year-old sees incredible potential in his team. “We’re far from reaching our limit,” said the coach, who became champions for the second time in his second year: “We’re getting a lot better. We want to play for the Champions League.”
National player Giulia Gwinn, for whom the title “meant the world” after two cruciate ligament tears in her two championship seasons so far, said: “The quality in our team cannot be compared to any other.”
The Munich women now also want the double
An important sign would therefore be winning the cup in a direct duel with Wolfsburg, who have always won this competition since 2015. That’s why the championship title was celebrated on Saturday with slowed down foam despite the usual beer showers. “We’re all professional enough to know that partying right now wouldn’t be the smart thing to do,” Gwinn said. And Hainer emphasized: “We have never won the double before. And when you are so close and have such an outstanding season, you want to take the last step.”
And at the end maybe celebrate together with the men. “It’s still possible for them to win the Champions League,” said Gwinn: “We haven’t done that yet.”