Bundesliga

A BAYERN MUNICH legend has claimed that Germany lost its DNA due to Pep Guardiola’s spell at Bayern Munich.The Spanish coach won the lot at Barcelona during his four years in charge with his famous tiki-taka style of football.Bastian Schweinsteiger lifted the World Cup with Germany in 2014Credit: GettyHe has explained how Pep Guardiola helped the Germans to ‘lose their DNA’Credit: EPAGuardiola, 53, left the Nou Camp in 2012 and, after taking a one-year sabbatical in New York City, he returned to the dugout 12 months later.He took charge of Bayern Munich in 2013 just after they had lifted the Champions League and immediately set about imposing his style of play into the club.Bayern stormed to the Bundesliga and German Cup titles during his first season before the German national side went on to claim World Cup glory in Brazil in 2014.Bastian Schweinsteiger was part of the both squads at the time – although he left Bayern for Manchester United in 2015.READ MORE ON FOOTBALLGuardiola stayed at the Allianz for three years in total, lifting the title in each campaign – and his former midfield star says his impact on the game there left a lasting legacy.However, 39-year-old Schweinsteiger says that it also led to Germany losing its DNA with the national side struggling ever since, including group stage eliminations at the past two World Cups.Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap, brought to you by SkyBet, he explained: “2012, 2013, 2014 – Bayern was probably the best team in Europe… and the national team won the World Cup, so we were very high.“Then Pep came to Munich and obviously not easy, when you are a coach and you come to a country, and you’re the No1 in Europe or the world, but he had his style of football which is amazing.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS“When we played Barcelona, it’s difficult of course, and he tried to impact his way and he’s a genius. The ideas which he gives to the players, and during the game as well, it’s amazing.“But what happened is that a lot of other clubs, and even the national team tried to copy, and we focused more on that style that keeping the values of the Germans.Awkward moment iShowSpeed confronted by Man City fans and forced to shut down stream during Real Madrid clash“We forgot completely about our DNA, and we trusted a lot in the way of Pep, which is very good, and we won everything, but that was a little mistake of German football, I would say.”Schweinsteiger continued: “We changed not only Bayern Munich, but even the other teams in the Bundesliga and our national team adapted to it because Pep’s way is great.“But I think that you cannot always play in one half, high up, it’s impossible, it’s very difficult.“I’ve always said, Pep trained in Barcelona and had eleven actors on the field, and he had a movie – he’s trying to do the same movie in Munich or in Manchester City, but sometimes the actors are changing so that’s a tough thing for him.“But I would never say that Pep was bad for Bayern Munich, he was amazing and I wish we had a coach in Munich like him again.”Guardiola departed Bayern for Man City in 2016 and he finally guided them to Champions League glory last season – although Real Madrid ended their hopes of defending that crown on Wednesday night.And Schweinsteiger says that Guardiola has adapted his style since winning it last term with City.He added: “When he [Guardiola] won the Champions League, you could see how the defenders were defending.“When you saw Stones playing as a six, and how he was playing with the ball, but more about the defensive way – that has changed.READ MORE SUN STORIES“He learned from his time in Munich, and maybe the first years at City, what does he need to win the Champions League – it’s also having defensive strengths.“City has got it and has changed it. German football was No1 in the world, and we have lost our values, or we’re not focused anymore so much on our values and trusted a little bit more other things.” More

GERMANY are hoping to bag an extra Champions League spot ahead of England next season, giving them five teams in the competition.But even if they gain another spot, they’ll still be some way off the TWELVE Bundesliga teams who qualified for Europe in the 1996/1997 campaign.Borussia Dortmund are leading the way for Germany to bag a fifth Champions League spotCredit: RexIn 1996/97, Dortmund were one of 12 Bundesliga sides to qualify for EuropeCredit: GettyBorussia Dortmund’s win over Atletico Madrid on Wednesday saw them book their place in the Champions League semis against Paris Saint-Germain.Meanwhile, the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich are hoping to progress further, with both facing Premier League teams to boost Germany’s coefficient chances.However, there were no less than 12 Bundesliga teams competing in Europe nearly 30 years ago after an astonishing end to the 1996/1997 season.Dortmund won the Champions League that year, confirming their place in the following term’s competition.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLMeanwhile, top two Bayern and Leverkusen both sealed spots in the elite competition thanks to their league finishes.Fourth-place Stuttgart then booked a place in the Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup after winning the German Cup.It meant their spot in the Uefa Cup, as well as Dortmund’s through their third-place finish, went to the next teams in line.Bochum, Karlsruhe and 1860 Munich made it seven teams in Europe for the following season.Most read in FootballBEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERHowever, the numbers continued to pile up for Germany’s sides.Free spots were suddenly available for the Intertoto Cup, with those going to Cologne, Werder Bremen, Duisburg and Hamburg.Eight bizarre football rules you may not knowThe latter made it after Gladbach, who finished above them, rejected the chance to participate in the competition.Finally, a 12th and final spot went to Schalke, who won that season’s Uefa Cup and therefore qualified for it once again despite finishing 13th in the Bundesliga.German teams who qualified for Europe 1996/97Those 12 teams and the competitions they reached:

Champions League: Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen

Uefa Cup Winners’ Cup: Stuttgart

Uefa Cup: Schalke, Bochum, Karlsruhe, 1860 Munich

Intertoto Cup: Cologne, Werder Bremen, Duisburg, Hamburg More

OF all the trophies Harry Kane has missed out on, this one will have stung the most.This was supposed to have been a dead cert. This was nailed-on.Harry Kane missed out on the Bundesliga titleCredit: GettyBayer Leverkusen won the league unbeatenCredit: GettyBayern Munich had won 11 successive Bundesliga titles, so when the England captain signed for the great Bavarian powerhouse last summer, we all said: “Well, at least he’ll finally win something.”Yet on Sunday evening, there were Bayer Leverkusen — known in Germany as ‘Neverkusen’ because they hadn’t previously won the league thanks to several late implosions — cavorting around, 16 points clear, unbeaten in all competitions and confirmed as champions with five games to spare.And so the greatest trophy curse in footballing history continues.Kane is always the runner-up, always the nearly man, always the fall guy, too often a figure of fun for those taking pleasure in the misfortune of others.Does anyone know the German word for schadenfreude . . . ?READ MORE IN FOOTBALLAnd this one really is freakish because Leverkusen’s story is almost as extraordinary as Leicester City’s miracle title in 2015-16 — the season when Kane won his first Premier League Golden Boot and Tottenham ended up ‘third in a two-horse race’ behind Arsenal.Xabi Alonso’s side have no established world-class players and were in the relegation zone when their remarkable manager arrived 18 months ago.Yet the only player to have left north London last summer to become a Bundesliga winner is Leverkusen’s Granit Xhaka, not Kane.When Kane spoke to the English media in September, soon after his move to Munich, there was an acceptance that everyone assumed his new club would be crowned champions again this season.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSKane told us: “With Bayern Munich sometimes we expect them to win because they have won (the Bundesliga) for the last 11 years.“But in my short period, there is still a lot of pressure to win these trophies.As Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen seal Bundesliga title and leave Harry Kane on brink of trophyless season“We have not won the Cup for a few years and we haven’t won the Champions League for a few years, so there is definitely a lot to gain and a lot of pressure to take.”Kane wasn’t being arrogant, just realistic. The Bundesliga was a given but the German Cup and certainly the Champions League would be real achievements.Yet here we are, on the eve of a Champions League quarter-final second leg against Arsenal — of all teams — with the European Cup the only available silverware.The England captain is seven goals clear in the Bundesliga’s golden boot race. His tally of 32 league goals puts him 21 ahead of Leverkusen’s top scorers, Florian Wirtz and Victor Boniface.And Kane has genuinely improved Bayern, who are on target to beat last season’s Bundesliga points tally when they pipped Borussia Dortmund to the title.So Bayern’s failure is not down to Kane. None of his near-misses ever really are.Kane has been on top form this seasonCredit: APHe has scored 39 goals in all competitionsCredit: GettyHis individual brilliance is unquestionable. He has scored four hat-tricks in the most prolific debut Bundesliga season in history.And as well as his sheer volume of goals, he has been scoring some absolute corkers — having won four German ‘Goal of the Month’ awards.Kane will have a Bundesliga golden boot to go with three Premier League golden boots and one World Cup golden boot.He is England’s greatest goalscorer and Tottenham’s greatest goalscorer.The individual accolades have been piling up ever since he was named Millwall’s young player of the year while on loan at The Den in 2012 — the last year Bayern failed to rule Germany.And as we well know, Kane is no selfish goal-poacher.He has contributed 12 assists for Bayern and it is his all-round game which has surprised most German observers — if not his boss Thomas Tuchel, who witnessed Kane as the Premier League’s leading assist-maker as well as leading scorer in 2021.Kane’s Tottenham were Premier League runners-up to Antonio Conte’s Chelsea in 2017, they lost League Cup finals to Jose  Mourinho’s Chelsea in 2015 and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in 2021 ­— just days after Spurs sacked Mourinho.Then there was the 2019 Champions League final against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and the Euros final in 2021, when England reached their first major final in 55 years but lost to Italy on penalties, having led in the match and the shootout.The list of agonies is remarkable. It is difficult to find anything comparable in British sport.Jimmy White lost all six of his world snooker finals but won plenty of other trophies. Colin Montgomerie never won a Major golf tournament but there were Ryder Cups, world No 1 status and other tournament wins.English football’s greatest non-trophy winners were one-club men who stayed loyal to smaller clubs, like Tom Finney, Johnny Haynes and Matt Le Tissier.But Tottenham aren’t Preston, Fulham or Southampton. And Bayern Munich certainly aren’t.So Arsenal will encounter a wounded Kane at the Allianz Arena tomorrow with their tie all square at 2-2.But even if Bayern prevail, they would be clear underdogs against Manchester City or Real Madrid in the semis.It’s enough to make you believe in hexes and hoodoos and voodoo.And you would have to be an exceptionally mean-spirited Arsenal supporter to take any real pleasure from it.WAT NEXT OLLIE WATKINS was poor as an England starter in the friendly defeat by Brazil last month, with Ivan Toney more impressive as the No 9 against Belgium three days later.But seeing Watkins kill off Arsenal with such a sublime finish on Sunday, and considering his 19 goals and ten assists in the Premier League this season, makes it clear the Aston Villa striker must be Harry Kane’s understudy at the Euros.OH MANTHE frightening thing about Manchester United’s season is that they should really be lower than seventh in the Premier League.Even during their current run of one win in seven league matches, United’s results have been better than their performances.Erik ten Hag’s team deserved to lose each of their last three drawn games against Brentford, Liverpool and Bournemouth.On goal difference, United are ninth in the league, while only seven teams have scored fewer than their 47 goals.And if we give any credence to ‘expected points’, then that stat would have them 15th in the table.If Ten Hag’s men lose Sunday’s FA Cup semi-final to Championship side Coventry, it should not come as a major surprise.MUR BLIMEYDAFTEST quote of the week came from Burnley assistant manager Craig Bellamy.He watched blundering Clarets keeper Arijanet Muric gift Brighton an equaliser and said: “Never look at it as the goalkeeper’s mistake — it’s OUR mistake.”Yeah and give everyone a medal at the primary school sports day, just for turning up.EURO BLUESUNLESS there is an extraordinary comeback from either Liverpool or  West Ham in this Thursday’s second legs, there will be no Premier League team in next month’s Europa League final in Dublin.So there will have been no English winner of that competition for five consecutive seasons and only one English finalist — Manchester United, who lost on penalties to Villarreal in 2021.This doesn’t tally with the accepted wisdom that the Premier League is the most competitive on Earth, with the greatest strength in depth.READ MORE SUN STORIESKLIPP KLOPPJURGEN KLOPP says his wife wants him to take up dancing when he quits as Liverpool boss next month.Let’s hope he doesn’t take any tips from misfiring striker Darwin Nunez, who has the worst shot conversion rate in Europe’s big five leagues — and who seems to have two left feet whenever he gets near the dancefloor. More