Are Bayern Munich the best team in Champions League history? Their dominant run last season in both the Bundesliga and Europe’s elite competition, ending with the lifting of the trophy for the first time in 12 years, certainly hints to that, but maybe it’s their streak of 10 consecutive wins in the competition, something no other team has done before, is an indication to this side’s greatness.
The last time Bayern Munich didn’t win a Champions League match was on March 13, 2013. The second leg of their knockout stage against Arsenal, Bayern looked comlacent and lethargic in a 2-0 home loss to the Gunners, narrowly escaping a shocking exit after looking so impressive in their 3-1 win at the Emirates. Maybe that loss honed the team in on the prize, looking close to flawless the rest of the way, starting a streak that still hasn’t run its course.
In the quarterfinals, they beat Juventus 2-0 twice, moving on to play against Bacelona, a team every champion has had to go through over the last six seasons, unless the Catalans themselves ended up with the trophy. Bayern yet again didn’t conceded a single goal in both legs, beating Barcelona 4-0 at the Allianz Arena and 3-0 at the Camp Nou.
In the finals they faced what usually is their toughest opponent, Borussia Dortmund. However, after being unable to beat Dortmund in the league for three consecutive seasons, Arjen Robben had his moment of redemption and vindication, scoring the winning goal with one minute left before injury time to win the Champions League for Bayern.
This year? The group stage hasn’t been very difficult. A 3-0 win over CSKA Moscow to start things, followed by 3-1 over Manchester City, 5-0 and 1-0 over Viktoria Plzen, another 3-1 win over CSKA Moscow and now only have to play City in a meaningless match. One of the more impressive feats of this streak isn’t just the winning, but conceding only three goals along the way, making it look far more applause-worthy than Real Madrid’s streak of scoring a goal in 30 consecutive Champions League matches, not that it’s helped them win anything.