BARCELONA, SPAIN – MAY 05: Head coach Josep Guardiola of FC Barcelona acknowledge the fans at the end of the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol at Camp Nou on May 5, 2012 in Barcelona, Spain. This is Guardiola’s last match. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Bayern Munich win DFB Pokal in Pep Guardiola’s final match as Bayern Coach

Pep Guardiola couldn’t hold back the tears after Douglas Costa scored the decisive penalty to win Bayern Munich their 11th domestic double in club history. Guardiola will now ride off to Manchester with an impressive five trophies in his three seasons in charge in Munich.

Captain Philipp Lahm opted to let Guardiola lift the Cup, as the Spanish coached had by this time wiped away his tears and joined in on the celebrations. The Bayern players all made an effort to embrace Guardiola during the party, and Guardiola’s emotions were clearly getting the better of him at times.

As far as the game went, it was a tightly contensted match between Germany’s two best teams and for long stretches, it looked as if penalties were only a matter of time. Despite no goals in the 120 minutes, both teams played a physical match and chances did fall on both sides.

As far as 0-0 draws go, the 90 minutes that preceded extra time wasn’t lacking any excitement. It was physical and both teams traded chances. Top goalscorers in the Bundesliga, Robert Lewandowski, and Pierre-Emmick Aubameyang both missed great chances to put their teams ahead.

The second half was primarily controlled by Bayern. Except for Aubameyang’s chance, Dortmund created very little going forward, but their defensive worked kept Bayern from generating anything truly dangerous.

Extra time was much of the same as the second half. Bayern bossed the majority of the play but Dortmund sat deep and defended well. Only Aubameyang was playing high up the pitch, so any attempt to counter was left to him and him alone.

As extra time went on, and the players became visibly tired, penalties began to look like an inevitability. A left-footed shot from David Alaba that Roman Burki pushed away was the only real chance for either side in the extra 30 minutes. The match would head to penalties.

In the penalty shootout, Bayern quickly took the advantage as Sven Bender and Sokratis both missed their attempts for Dortmund. Joshua Kimmich missed his penalty, but the other four Bayern shooters were perfect, as they defeated Dortmund 4-3 in the shootout. It is Bayern’s 18th DFB Pokal win and the 11th time they have won the double.

The match was also Mats Hummels’ final appearance for Dortmund. He was subbed off during normal time and was spared the stress of having to take a penalty against his future club. His first competitive match for Bayern will be against Dortmund in the German Super Cup.

https://twitter.com/DFB_Pokal/status/734131432436699136

Guardiola will be happy to leave Bayern with a proper send-off. It’s the second double he’s won with the club and despite failing to win the Champions League he will more than likely be remembered fondly in Munich.

 

About Harrison Prolic

Northern Illinois graduate with a degree in Journalism. Full-time page designer in Madison, Wisconsin. Part time follower of all things German soccer. I tweet about the Bundesliga and plenty of other sports @hprolic.

Quantcast