Commenting on the news: Patrick Ilg, 2nd year MSc Urban Environment and Lukas Rydzek, 2nd year BSc International Development, both from Germany.
Lukas: ‘I’m from Dortmund, but I have been a fan of Bayern since the age of four. I went to London for the match. I took a long time to get there, by bus and ferry. But I didn’t get a ticket, and there was no public viewing, so I watched the game in a German pub with hundreds of German fans. It’s good to see Bayern win. After the game I even got interviewed by the BBC and a Germany TV station.’ Patrick: ‘I watched the match at home with my friends. I like to see a German team in the final, but I’m a fan of neither Bayern nor Dortmund, so I wouldn’t pay 300 euros to see one of them. I sympathized more with Bayern as they lost two finals in the past three years, and they played so well this year. So I think the result was fair to Bayern, they deserved it.’ Lukas: ‘I think Bayern will be dominant again next year. German football has developed a lot since the European Championships of 2000. Germany finished last in their group in the preliminary stages, and that was a real wake-up call. A lot of fundamental changes were made since then, for instance the opening of youth football schools by all the clubs in the Bundesliga. Now they have very good young football talents my age.’ Patrick: ‘German football is getting better and better thanks to the restructured youth system. They train young players professionally from the very beginning and in return it brings benefits to the clubs, which makes them financially healthy. I think the Bundesliga is the best league in the world at this moment. Even Barcelona is looking at German teams, to learn from us. I expect more international football stars to join the Bundesliga.’