FC Bayern could create history on Sunday. If they beat Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final, the Munich team would win the treble of German championship, DFB Cup and Europe's premier competition for the second time in the club's history. So far, only Barcelona (2009, 2015) have succeeded in doing so. Thomas Müller was already part of the first triumph in 2013 and is eager for a repeat.
"It's a huge motivation to accomplish this historic feat," said the 31-year-old born-and-bred Bavarian in an interview with fcbayern.com. "The unbelievable can happen that we can win the treble a second time in a relatively short period and it would be the first treble for many of the players." But for that FCB need a win on Sunday evening - and against PSG that's anything but a foregone conclusion.
Müller with a warning about PSG
"PSG have excellent individual players and above all: they seem more experienced," Müller warned of Neymar & Co. The 2014 World Champion is well aware that there will be some hair-raising and critical situations in front of his own goal in this game too: "You can't keep every opponent in the world away from your own goal one hundred percent of the time, even if that is what we always strive to do."
Full confidence in Manuel Neuer
Manuel Neuer vs. Keylor Navas, Robert Lewandowski vs. Neymar: We've compared all the team components of the finalists with one another:
So PSG will certainly have some chances to score, but that doesn't really scare Müller. "We'll still have Manuel Neuer between the posts," he explains. Neuer, who also played in the 2013 final, has turned in some strong performances in the finals tournament so far, ensuring that Bayern remain unbeaten in 2020.
Crowning a strong season
"We’re enormously self-confident," Müller emphasises, and is therefore "feeling optimistic" for Sunday evening. After all, the Bavarians are going into the final with an impressive unbeaten run of 29 matches (28 wins, one draw). "Now we have to crown the whole thing so we can go off on holiday with beaming smiles," said the Upper Bavarian, with - of course - a beaming smile.
The anticipation of the final at the Éstadio da Luz in Lisbon is evident in Müller's every word. "It will be a terrific final with two great teams!", the nine-time German champion sums it up. After 2013, he is determined to get his hands on Ol' Big Ears for a second time: "It's an incredible incentive to win this Champions League. We want to be the kings of Europe!"
73.5 centimetres high and made of gleaming sterling silver. That's what Sunday is all about:
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