It is in itself a mockery that Germany has no representative in the UEFA Champions League. But it seems that their misery doesn't end there. Both German clubs that did manage to make it into the UEFA Cup have made life difficult for themselves. Leading the way was Bayer Leverkusen - once a semi-finalists in the Champions League-found themselves humiliated in front of their home crowd as they fell 4-1 to Russia's Zenit St. Petersburg.
The once-favorite and more highly esteemed German side Bayern Munich also found themselves puzzled by a draw at home when they were beaten by lowly Getafe. Munich were deemed as playing with a different/lower class of football when they could only managed to qualify for Europe's 2nd-tier competition - and they were expected to at least reach the final fairly easily. But this was not the case as they struggled in the tournament's last 16 and now in the first leg of the quarter finals. The manager were left sulking that perhaps they might have scored several more goals in the match that ended 1-1. And some have point to the fact that the German giants were without Miroslav Klose. But as a club that has invested so much on stars like Ribery and Lukas Podolski, to name a few, no excuse is justifiable.
One point of interest: Have the inequality of football "power distribution"shifted from the traditional few to less celebrated clubs, such as Zenit and Getafe. Only time will tell.
For Full Scores and Report on the UEFA Cup Q-Finals First Leg clash - goto LoTP endorsed soccerway.com.
The once-favorite and more highly esteemed German side Bayern Munich also found themselves puzzled by a draw at home when they were beaten by lowly Getafe. Munich were deemed as playing with a different/lower class of football when they could only managed to qualify for Europe's 2nd-tier competition - and they were expected to at least reach the final fairly easily. But this was not the case as they struggled in the tournament's last 16 and now in the first leg of the quarter finals. The manager were left sulking that perhaps they might have scored several more goals in the match that ended 1-1. And some have point to the fact that the German giants were without Miroslav Klose. But as a club that has invested so much on stars like Ribery and Lukas Podolski, to name a few, no excuse is justifiable.
One point of interest: Have the inequality of football "power distribution"shifted from the traditional few to less celebrated clubs, such as Zenit and Getafe. Only time will tell.
For Full Scores and Report on the UEFA Cup Q-Finals First Leg clash - goto LoTP endorsed soccerway.com.
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