Seven years ago today, FC Bayern completed the treble with their triumph in the DFB Cup final. We look back on the impressive 2012/13 season.
Spurred on by a bitter disappointment from the previous season, the 2012/13 campaign was ultimately the most successful in the history of FC Bayern. After years of trying, the golden generation, as the group of players including Bastian Schweinsteiger and Philipp Lahm were often called, finally claimed their well-deserved reward in 2013: victory in the Champions League and, to crown it all, the treble.
Full steam ahead right from the first training session
It was already obvious in pre-season that the Bavarians very quickly intended to make up for the previous year. The defeat in the 2012 Champions League final, the final dahoam, was all the motivation the team needed. Strong-willed and fully-focused, they got down to business. "We felt this huge urge to be absolutely the best team in Europe. "That was already apparent in the first training session of the new season," Schweinsteiger recalled in an interview with club magazine '51'.
End-to-end victory in the Bundesliga
In the Bundesliga, nothing could stop head coach Jupp Heynckes' team. Right from Matchday 1, a 3-0 away win at Greuther Fürth, Bayern were in first place. They never once relinquished this position and the record champions secured the title with an incredible 91 points - their best-ever season - ahead of Borussia Dortmund (66).
Record attack
Bayern delighted their fans with a fast and spectacular style of attacking football. In addition, the team was also defensively compact and gave very little away. The best proof of this is the league scoring ratio of 98:18 - this +80 goal difference has never been achieved in the history of the Bundesliga.
Shining hour against Barcelona
But the Reds didn't just impress domestically. After winning their group, which included Valencia, Bate Borisov and Lille, Bayern overcame Arsenal (3-1, 2-0) and Juventus (2-0, 2-0) in the first knockout stages of the Champions League. There followed an impressive performance against Barcelona in the semi-finals. In the first leg at home, the Munich side played what was perhaps their best game of the season, beating the Catalans, led by superstar Lionel Messi, 4-0. They went on to book their place in the final with an equally strong performance and a thrilling 3-0 away win in the second leg.
Supremely confident at Wembley
In the final at the legendary Wembley Stadium in London, Bayern came up against their eternal domestic rivals Borussia Dortmund. Schweinsteiger can still remember: "When I woke up that day, I immediately had the thought: Today we're gonna lift the cup!" After some initial problems, the Bavarians seized control of the game from the middle of the first half and took the lead through a Mario Mandžukić strike in the 60th minute. FCB were supremely confident "and although Ilkay Gündogan equalised through a penalty shortly afterwards, (Editor's note: 67th minute) I never entertained the thought that it could go wrong again," reminisces Schweinsteiger.
🎵Arjen did it🎵
However, it took until the 89th minute before Arjen Robben knocked the ball "at an estimated three kph" (Schweinsteiger) into the net for a 2-1 victory and redeemed the Bavarians. After losing two finals in 2010 and 2012, the job was finally done at the third attempt and the trophy went to Munich. Bayern were the kings of Europe and a week later they even went one better.
The Bayern players and fans will never forget this goal. Arjen Robben pokes the ball past Roman Weidenfeller to seal the 2-1 win:
Treble and Club World Cup
In the final of the DFB Cup, Schweinsteiger & Co. beat VfB Stuttgart 3-2, thus securing the first treble in the club's history. The Reds were quite rightly considered to be the best team in Europe and underpinned that claim by winning the UEFA Supercup at the end of August. Four months later, the Club World Cup triumph followed. It was the fifth title in the 2013 calendar year - the most successful in FC Bayern's 120-year history.
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