History of FC Bayern Munich

This coup paid off, as he formed an aspiring team with the talented young players that should later be referred to as "the axis": goalkeeper Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Müller.

In his first year, he only managed to return the Cup to the banks of Isar river, but with young and hungry reinforcements such as Paul Breitner and Uli Hoeneß, he formed the team that achieved the first German Championship hat-trick in history.

When Spain in 1973 re-opened its borders to foreign talent, the equivalent of a €1.5 million offer for Gerd Müller from Barcelona was fended off, and Barça had to make do with Dutchman Johan Cruyff.

Within the next couple of years, Beckenbauer and Müller left for the United States and Sepp Maier's career was ended by a car accident – after he had been ever-present for 13 seasons in the starting eleven of the team, then a world record.

The FC Breitnigge, reinforced with Belgian goalkeeping legend Jean-Marie Pfaff, Klaus Augenthaler and striker Dieter Hoeneß (brother of Uli), brought success back to Munich.

Their dreams of another European Cup were thwarted in the final of Rotterdam against Aston Villa, when for a brief moment a man named Peter Withe stepped out of obscurity and scored the decider for the team from Birmingham.

Nonetheless, however, the reformed squad secured one more cup, as part of a double, and five championships inside six years, including the second hat-trick, leading to the tenth title allowing the club to finally overtake 1.

But it became another generation to be denied continental glory when, in the 1987 European Cup Final in Vienna, Porto prevailed 2–1 through two goals by Rabah Madjer and Juary in the last 13 minutes, with a 25th-minute header from Ludwig Kögl failing to close the game for Bayern.

New coach Jupp Heynckes, already at his former post in Mönchengladbach successor of Lattek, started with a title-free season, after which Matthäus and Andreas Brehme went to Internazionale from where a generous reimbursement was received.

The club was not keen on repeating the disaster of 1991–92, and in the next season Bayern spent the equivalent of €12 million on the new players—Thomas Helmer (€4M), Brazil's captain Jorginho (€2.8M) and Lothar Matthäus (€2M) topped the bill of a list that also included Mehmet Scholl.

Calming the nerves of the thrifty President Dr. Fritz Scherer, an economics professor at the University of Munich, was the sale of Stefan Effenberg and Brian Laudrup for €8.5 million to Fiorentina.

As the team continued to have more impact on the social pages of the tabloids rather than on the pitch, "King Otto's" tenure was cut short due to disagreements with the board, and Beckenbauer steered the club to victory in the 1996 UEFA Cup Final against Bordeaux.

Jürgen Klinsmann scored a record-breaking 15 goals in Bayern's European campaign that led the team to its first continental trophy in 20 years after eliminating, amongst others, the likes of Benfica, Nottingham Forest and Barcelona.

In Europe, the campaign of the team now dominated by goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, midfield engine Stefan Effenberg and striker Giovane Élber ended in the semi-final encounters with later winners Real Madrid (0–2, 2–1).

In the heartbreak finish of the Bundesliga, Bayern stayed ahead of Schalke 04 through Swedish defender Patrik Andersson's goal against Hamburger SV in literally the last second of the season, assuring the club a third consecutive title.

The following season, the team, enhanced with the €19 million acquisition of Dutch striker Roy Makaay from Deportivo de La Coruña, overcame at least this hurdle, but even an underperforming Real Madrid in crisis managed to eliminate the Reds in the round of 16.

Nonetheless, however, Van Bommel's leadership qualities and uncompromising style of play would prove important for the team, eventually securing him the captain's armband after Oliver Kahn's retirement in 2008.

Apart from Klose, the two most prominent signings for the 2007–08 season were Italian World Cup winner Luca Toni and French midfielder Franck Ribéry, with the latter alone costing Bayern a club record fee of €25 million.

The other side of renewing the team was a number of notable players leaving the club: Owen Hargreaves was signed by Manchester United after Bayern had refused the transfer a year earlier, while strikers Claudio Pizarro and Roque Santa Cruz likewise both left for English clubs, Chelsea and Blackburn Rovers respectively (Santa Cruz quickly rose to prominence at Blackburn, scoring 19 goals in his first Premier League season after just 31 Bundesliga goals in eight years at Bayern).

Meanwhile, Roy Makaay moved to Feyenoord, seeing his starting team chances dwindle with the signings of fellow strikers Toni and Klose, while Ali Karimi left the club after two seasons and Andreas Görlitz being loaned out Karlsruher SC.

Ribéry was usually named the league's most technically gifted player and often seemed virtually unstoppable by the opposing defense lines; he scored 11 goals and creating eight assists, being voted Germany's Footballer of the Year at the end of his first season.

On the heels of a crucial Bundesliga loss against rival title contenders VfL Wolfsburg and in danger of missing a Champions League spot for the next season, Klinsmann was sacked and replaced with veteran coach Jupp Heynckes, who was brought back from retirement for the last remaining matches.

Prior to the 2009–10 season, Bayern made major changes to both the squad and the management, hiring Dutch coach Louis van Gaal and strikers Arjen Robben and Mario Gómez, with the latter purchase setting a new club record transfer fee at €30 million.

After a rocky start into the new season, the team began to pick up steam in late fall, defeating Juventus 4–1 in a make-or-break Champions League group stage match and steadily ascending in the Bundesliga.

Led by a brilliant Robben, who scored a string of crucial goals in all competitions, Bayern was eventually able to secure both domestic titles and advanced to the Champions League final in Madrid.

The winter transfer period saw the addition of Luiz Gustavo from 1899 Hoffenheim against the departures of captain Mark van Bommel to Milan and central defender Martín Demichelis to Málaga.

[7] Bayern won the UEFA Supercup and FIFA Club World Cup in Guardiola's first season, in addition to a Bundesliga triumph as early as March, a record in German football.

[36] Despite defeating Tottenham Hotspur 2–7 in the Champions League,[37] Bayern suffered a slow start to the 2019–20 season, culminating in a 5–1 thrashing at the hands Kovac's former side Eintracht Frankfurt.

Bayern made history by defeating Barcelona 8–2 in the quarterfinals, before beating Lyon and Paris Saint-Germain in the next two games to win their sixth European Cup and complete their second continental treble.

Although Bayern were unsuccessful yet again in the Pokal, losing 0–5 to Borussia Mönchengladbach, and were ignominiously knocked out from the Champions League by underdogs Villarreal, they made history by winning their tenth consecutive Bundesliga title.