Bayern facing a debate about quality and general policy

By Oliver Trust

BERLIN, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Praise has been heaped on Bayern Munich after the Champions League semifinal second leg against Real Madrid. The world's headlines all agreed that the Bavarians were by far the better team in one of the most breathtaking encounters in the history of the important football competition.

Though the match ended in a 2-2 draw, the statistics speak for the 2018 German league champions: 39 shots to 16, 997 passes to 635, 21 corners to 9 - all to no avail as the Spaniards have progressed to the final 4-3 on aggregate.

Madrid's German midfielder Toni Kroos, the 2014 World Cup winner, openly admitted to Bayern defender mats Hummel: "We didn't deserve to win the thing. It's your fault for not reaching the final."

There may have been some bad luck at times but Kroos followed up by saying: "If a team does not use its chances then another will take advantage."

Was he alluring to the mental quality needed to win the Champions League? Or will Bayern have to change its general policy to make a dream come true to win the Champions League?

So far, Bayern has insisted that they did not intend joining the race to spend outrageously high transfer fees and salaries. Both president Uli Hoeness and chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge have regularly emphasized that transfers of over 100 million euros are a no-go for the club.

In 2018, the German league champion's squad turned out to be not deep enough to replace injured stars, at least internationally. A look at the recent past seems to indicate a recurring problem. After reaching the semifinal on 4 occasions in the past five years, Bayern has only progressed to the final once. They were eliminated by a Spanish side every time, as they were in the quarterfinals in 2017.

Thomas Mueller demanded to talk about the reasons quickly. "Every time we get knocked out, individual mistakes are to blame. Either it is bad penalties or red cards or tons of wasted chances. We have to ask ourselves why things like that always happen to us in games like that?" the 29-year-old striker commented.

Mueller was talking about missed penalties (2016/Mueller - 2017 Arturo Vidal) or red cards (2017) and gifts. Remember Rafinha's bad pass in the first leg of 2018 allowing Real to score the winning goal? Or Sven Ulreich's howler in the second leg when not clearing a back pass allowing Karim Benzema to score to put Real 2-1 up?

Maybe Bayern has to make an about turn in their general policy including crossing the 100 million euro barrier for players and, perhaps more importantly, in their minds as they need to announce that winning the Champions League is the most important thing for the club.

Bayern officially speaks of the German title to be the most important title for the club at the moment. In contrast, Real, Barcelona or Paris St Germain speak about the Champions League as being the most important competition.

In a global world, this makes sense as Bayern have no rivals of note in the national league. This year the Bavarians won their sixth consecutive Bundesliga title and are an odds-on bet to win the seventh next season.

Bayern will have to consider reinforcing their attack as their best strikers such as Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Mueller and Franck Ribery (injured Arjen Robben aside) were unable to break down Real. Having no suitable replacements for their wingers Robben or Ribery and center-forward Lewandowski turned out to be a fatal error.

Bayern was the better team against Real Madrid - but only when shots or corners count more than goals or mistakes of a referee who is completely missed a clear handball in the penalty area (Marcello in the first half). But it is the "Los Blanco's" that have reached the Champions League final for the third consecutive time.

It is about time for Bayern to find answers or be happy with praises and encouraging headlines as a runner up. Enditem