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Bayern’s early Bundesliga title won’t help them in Europe

By Kristofer McCormack

Bayern Munich players celebrate after the German first division Bundesliga football match 1 FC Augsburg vs FC Bayern Munich in Augsburg, southern Germany, on April 7, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Christof STACHE / RESTRICTIONS: DURING MATCH TIME: DFL RULES TO LIMIT THE ONLINE USAGE TO 15 PICTURES PER MATCH AND FORBID IMAGE SEQUENCES TO SIMULATE VIDEO. == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE == FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT DFL DIRECTLY AT 49 69 650050 (Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images)
Bayern Munich players celebrate after the German first division Bundesliga football match 1 FC Augsburg vs FC Bayern Munich in Augsburg, southern Germany, on April 7, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Christof STACHE / RESTRICTIONS: DURING MATCH TIME: DFL RULES TO LIMIT THE ONLINE USAGE TO 15 PICTURES PER MATCH AND FORBID IMAGE SEQUENCES TO SIMULATE VIDEO. == RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE == FOR FURTHER QUERIES PLEASE CONTACT DFL DIRECTLY AT 49 69 650050 (Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Bayern sealed their sixth consecutive Bundesliga early on Saturday, but that shouldn’t worry their Champions League rivals.

They’ve been waiting for weeks. On Saturday, it finally arrived: Bayern Munich sealed their sixth Bundesliga title with a 4-1 win against Augsburg. The Bavarians have been 17 points of Schalke for the last three weeks, but haven’t been able to clinch the title due to Schalke’s good form. The latter’s 3-2 loss to Hamburg gave Bayern the opening they’ve been waiting for.

After a frantic start in which Ausburg took the lead through a bizarre own goal, Bayern took control and cruised to a 4-1 win and a title that was never really in doubt. The focus now turns to Europe, where Bayern are seeking their first Champions League title in six seasons. If that sounds like a luxury, perhaps it shouldn’t.

In an article examining why English clubs had been so successful in Europe, Jonathan Wilson came across a myth of European soccer: coasting to a league title doesn’t give a team an advantage in Europe, with only one Champions League-winning side between 2000 and 2009 winning their league by double digits.

The same is true if we extend the time period up to the present. From 2000-01 to 2016-17, 10 teams have won their domestic league and the Champions League in the same season. Of these, only four sides were defending league champions in the season they won their European crown.

Of those four sides, only one has had a similar run to Bayern Munich’s. Inter Milan had won four consecutive league titles in the lead-up to their treble in 2009-10. Although similar to Bayern’s run, there are some important contrasts to keep in mind. Inter’s main rival, Juventus, had just been relegated due to the match fixing scandal of 2006 and they won only three of their five league titles by double-digit points.

Next: Euro Roundup: Why is the Bundesliga so easy for Bayern?

Although winning league titles by comfortable margins and then securing European titles has become more common, consistently winning league titles by comfortable margins and winning the Champions League has not. Wilson attributes this to a lack of sharpness, something which has hurt smaller teams such as Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb, who have won their leagues easily and yet always fall flat in Europe.

Bayern’s 2012-13 treble-winning side agree that if Dortmund hadn’t posed such a challenge, they probably wouldn’t have transformed into the force they have become. If Bayern wish to challenge for the Champions League this season, then, they may need to find a new challenge from somewhere, or risk falling flat in Europe once more.

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