Deep yearning for Champions League glory

For the losers in a cup final, there is always one bitter and agonising ritual to be observed after the final whistle, the slow trudge past the trophy to collect a silver medal from an official. Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger know the procedure well. On the domestic front, both players have won everything there is to win, three doubles in Philipp’s case, and five in Bastian's. However, the pair have come close to success on the international stage in recent years without ever winning. They yearn to put that right. “Once you've made a final, you want to lift the trophy," said Lahm. The trophy on offer this Saturday is arguably the most sought-after in the world.

Eleven years after Stefan Effenberg and Oliver Kahn led the way to Munich's first victory in the Champions League, the club's two current captains are now seeking to follow in the footsteps of their illustrious predecessors. “You have to win trophies so your name appears in the history books in bold," chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge told kicker magazine.