Bonus Feature: Haters Gonna Hate

Let’s start this right off. I hate Bayern Munich. No I mean I really hate them. As a Nurnberg fan, I have to hate them and vehemently do. Nurnberg and Bayern Munich are historically the two big German league teams from Bavaria and so are rivals. I also hate them as they basically are the Yankees of the Bundesliga. They have the new fancy stadium, the larger player payroll, and are nicknamed “Bayern” even though there are other teams in Bayern (Bavaria). Next season, there will actually be three others besides Bayern Munich from Bayern in the Bundesliga – Augsburg, Greuther Fuerth, and of course Nurnberg.

I could list many more reasons why I hate Bayern Munich, but I feel I have to admit something first. I shamefully actually own a Bayern Munich jersey. Yes, it’s true. Lying in the very bottom of the bottom drawer of my dresser, it hasn’t seen the light of day in years though. I bought it years ago when I was in Germany on a trip, but it was before I really followed German football and before the roots of my Nurnberg fandom really started to grow. Yuck. I shudder at even the thought of ever putting the jersey on again.

So back to all that hatred… Why do I bring up my strong disliking for Bayern Munich? They are playing Chelsea this Saturday in the Champions League final. As UEFA had scheduled the final to be in Munich’s Allianz Arena far in advance, Bayern Munich had been gunning for the final all season. That tunnel vision helped Dortmund win the Bundesliga season title as well as the DFB Pokal final against Bayern Munich (not that Dortmund didn’t just dominate anyway). Rather lamely, Bayern Munich say winning the league doesn’t mean anything anyway. Said very well from a team that always sets their expectations to win the league, but hasn’t now in the last two years.

Anyway… back to the Champions League final. Although I hate Bayern Munich, I was actually cheering for them in their semi-final with Real Madrid. My hate for Bayern Munich is so twisted that I wanted them to get to their precious final, to play in their home park, to play in front of thousands upon thousands of home fans – and lose! There is little worse than a team losing such a huge match, in front of so many home fans, in their home stadium. I’m hoping to see the disappointed faces of Bayern Munich fans as Chelsea lift the trophy. I want to see tears on Arjen Robben’s face from losing. (Neuer, Schweinsteiger, and a few others I wish no real harm on. They just play for the wrong team. Robben though… I really hate him. I want to punch him in the face too.)

Cheering on Chelsea in the Champions League final though very nearly came at a cost. With Chelsea not finishing in the Premier League in a Champions qualifying position, only winning the final will put them in the tournament for next year. If that happens, the lowest seeded Champions qualifier in the league gets bumped down to the Europa League. Newcastle was in the mix for that final spot – 4th in the Premier League – but finished in 5th. While they still qualified for Europa League anyway, I would’ve been just fine with them being bumped from Champions to Europa League as any European competition qualification was far above preseason expectations. Of course if that had happened, the HUGE consolation prize would have been that Bayern Munich lost the final. Luckily, that still can happen.

Come Saturday afternoon, I’ll be watching the final wearing my Chelsea jersey (yes, purchased before I was ever a deep-rooted Newcastle fan), while probably drinking a beer, and loudly cheering against Bayern Munich. It doesn’t seem that it’s a given that the match will be on television in my area, so I may have to watch the soccer season’s biggest match on live feed somewhere online. Well, wherever I end up watching it, as far as Bayern Munich is concerned, this hater will be hatin’.