For the first time in the history of European football, we have two German teams in the finals of the Champion’s League. An all-German finals looked imminent after the way the two German sides – Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund – defeated their more fancied Spanish opponents – Real Madrid and Barcelona – the first leg of the semi finals in Germany. A 4-1 Dortmund-Real result and a 4-0 Bayern-Barcelona result were always going to be difficult to turn around by the Spanish sides in the return leg.

Borussia Dortmund had to see off some anxious moments but they survived. Bayern’s 7-0 thrashing of Barcelona over the two legs would have surprised even the most ardent Bayern fan. It’s astounding that Barcelona couldn’t manage a single goal in 180 minutes!

Bundesliga – the German football league – has been admired all over Europe for sometime now. German clubs have a tight leash over their finances, pay more realistic wages to their players, keep ticket prices low, plough back the money into the club, don’t splurge money on superstars, nurture local talent through youth academies and find creative and innovative ways to connect with their fan base and local communities. The ownership pattern of German clubs also significantly differs from those of England and Italy, where big money rules the day. These and other factors have made the German league a much admired one.

Now one is tempted to draw a parallel between German football and the German economy. Both seem to be based on solid foundations. Germany is Europe’s economic powerhouse and it avoided the massive lay-offs seen in other Western nations in the post-Lehman phase. But whether the German economic model, which has worked so well domestically, will work well for other nations in the Euro Zone is a matter of debate. Angela Merkel’s tough austerity prescription for Greece, Portugal, Spain and other crisis-hit nations has not won her many friends.

In fact her austerity-first package has come in for severe criticism even among a section of Western economists – chief among them are Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz – who believe in more traditional Keynesian prescriptions for pulling Europe out of recession.

But the German football model has many useful things to teach the other leagues, especially that of England, Italy and to some extent Spain. English clubs – despite the enormous popularity of the English Premier League the world over – are groaning under a pile of debt and can certainly learn a thing or two from the Bundesliga on getting their finances in order.

In Italy the game seems to be gripped by a strange malaise with falling attendances, crumbling stadia and infrastructure and rising racism and fan violence. Also in Italy, corruption in football has always been just around the corner. And to think that just a few years ago the Serie A – the Italian league – was the most admired one in Europe.

So on May 25 at Wembley will Borrusia Dortmund upset Bayern in the finals? If that happens it would be a fairy tale ending for this club which has captured the imagination of fans world over. It would also be a tremendous achievement for their genial coach Jurgen Klopp.

But Bayern having been the losing finalists twice in the last three years would probably get the support of the ‘neutral’ fans. I’ll be up that day past midnight supporting Borrusia Dortmund with a chilled, frothy beverage for company! I wonder which team Angela Merkel will root for.

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