The offices on Säbener Strasse in southern Munich, where FC Bayern is located, have looked like classrooms for ten years. the lessons given by the leaders of the all-powerful Bavarian club are often addressed to their Parisian counterparts.
Since the arrival of Qatar at the head of Paris Saint-Germain in 2011, officials of the “Rekordmeister” (the holder of the record of titles in German football) have continued to criticize the economic model established in Paris.
After the last Champions League final, won in August 2020 by Bayern, the two clubs meet again, Wednesday April 7, for the first leg of the quarterfinals first leg of the continental competition.
“I am delighted with this opposition because it is a prestigious match, expressed Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of the board of directors of Bayern, ahead of a previous duel between the two clubs, in 2017. It’s the clash of two cultures: on the one hand, a newborn, and us, the old club. “
Supporters of the European “aristocracy” of football, like Juventus Turin, Real Madrid or FC Barcelona, the Bavarian leaders have never hidden their aversion to the “new rich” clubs, which have come onto the local scene. or continental, and assembled with millions by the funds of a gas state, oil, or a multinational.
“There will come a time when all the clubs that spend so much money on the transfer market with a bang will not even be able to afford a wand!” Because the sporting success is not programmed contrary to what the providers of funds think ”, thundered Uli Hoeness four years ago, after PSG had spent 400 million euros to recruit Neymar (222 million) and Kylian Mbappé (180 million).
“And there our hour will come”, had assured the former striker of the great Bayern of the 1970s, who became manager of the club at the age of 27, in 1979, and architect of its development. Hoeness was then still president of Bayern. He feared to see the club of his life forced to travel in economy class because he could not match the new sums of the transfer market.
An “old-fashioned” management model
Bavaria’s pennant team – it bears its name – Bayern has embraced the traditionally conservative values of the Land of southern Germany. And is proud, among the gratin of Europe, to be the only club to live on its own funds, without debt or depending on anyone. “When others go to the bank, it’s to borrow. We are going to the deposit counter “, likes to sum up Uli Hoeness.
“If there is anyone who has built this club in our time, it is him. He had visions at all levels: sporting, economic… ”, paid tribute to the former Bavarian coach, Ottmar Hitzfeld, in 2015, in an interview with So Foot. Under Hoeness’s rule, the club has established itself among the greats of Europe, spending no more than it earned, accumulating loot able to keep it going, even during troubled times like those of the related pandemic. to the new coronavirus.
A model at odds with that of the PSG of the QSI era (Qatar sport investment). It is moreover on this financial ground, more than on the sporting ground, that the antagonism between the two clubs was built. In 2013, Uli Hoeness urged Michel Platini, then president of UEFA, the umbrella body for football in Europe, to “ monitor what is happening with his French friends at PSG or in Manchester City ”.
The Bavarian leader thus suggested that the two clubs with funds from the Gulf had put in place devices to bypass “financial fair play”. A year later, the same Hoeness was sentenced to prison for tax evasion – in a personal capacity.
“We are the best club”
Six times European champion, and crowned thirty times in the Bundesliga (the German championship), the club from the Bavarian capital has no shortage of certainties when it comes to hosting PSG. A “Bayern’s own arrogance”, as the former captain of the club Mark Van Bommel turned out in 2009, which continues despite staff renewals. “When we enter the field, we must not ask ourselves if we are going to win, but by how many goals. This self-confidence has always made Bayern stronger. “
This can be found in the club’s motto: “Mia san mia”. “We are who we are”, for those who do not understand Bavarian. Former glory and future president of the Munich club, Oliver Kahn unfolded in 2015 the legend of this expression, adopted in the 1970s: “It’s almost a mantra. It means that we can win any game at any time against anyone, we have the best players, we are the best club. “
The subject is not open to discussion, continued the former national team goalkeeper. “Every player who comes to FC Bayern ends up believing that here he can only win. “ Until Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting, former subscriber to the Parisian bench, spent last summer in the Bavarian camp after having known his fifteen minutes of glory by qualifying the PSG in the final of the Champions League. “Winning the title is everyone’s goal here, expressed the Cameroonian striker last week. You can see it every day in the club. ”
The victory of the Bavarians, Saturday April 4, on the lawn of Leipzig showed it. In this early final for the Bundesliga coronation, Thomas Müller’s teammates did not miss the opportunity to “crush” (1-0) the team of energy drink giant, Red Bull, one of “Plastic clubs” without a story vilified by Bayern fans, and almost securing a new domestic title.
Reigning European champion, undefeated on the European scene since March 13, 2019 (1-3 defeat at the Allianz Arena against Liverpool, in the round of 16), Bayern Munich aspires to extend the series against Paris. An opponent that the Bavarian leaders have been a little less inclined to criticize in recent years. Since 2018, Qatar Airways, the airline of the Gulf emirate, has been one of the sponsors of the Bavarian club.
In the absence of a new lesson in economics, Hansi Flick’s men would not scorn to deliver one on the ground to Neymar and company. After all, Bayern “Is who he is “. On alternating current since the start of the season, PSG still aspires to discover what wood it is made of.
Bayern Munich-PSG, Wednesday April 7 at 9 p.m. (broadcast on RMC Sport 1 and commented on Le Monde.fr)
