Borussia Dortmund 1
Gundogan 68 pen;
Bayern Munich 2
Mandzukic 60, Robben 89;

Chastised by his own fans after spurning an extra-time penalty in Bayern Munich’s heartbreaking defeat to Chelsea in last season’s Champions League final at the Allianz Arena, Arjen Robben redeemed himself in spectacular fashion last night.

With this fascinating all-German final between Bayern and Borussia Dortmund locked at one-all and just over a minute left, Robben waltzed his way past a clutch of yellow shirts to reach Franck Ribery’s back-heel before ramming the ball past Roman Weidenfaller.

His last-gasp salvo swayed the tie in Bayern’s favour, breaking the hearts of this brilliant Borussia team who had given as much as they got but ultimately paid the price for their failure to translate their first-half superiority into goals.

A year after Chelsea’s incredible win had left them shattered and speechless, the masses of Bayern supporters were ecstatic, their joy epitomised by man-of-the-match Robben who let out a roar of delight at the final whistle.

Robben deserved his moment of glory for he was the catalyst of Bayern’s 2-1 victory. He was the player who made things happen for the Bavarians, drifting across from the right of midfield to initiate attacks, a ploy that proved decisive as Dortmund just couldn’t cope with the elusive Dutchman.

Bayern had endured a difficult start as Dortmund, driven on by Marco Reus and Kevin Grosskreutz, tore out of the blocks but they hung in before the likes of Robben, Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger took matters in hand as Dortmund tired in the second half.

It was hard not to feel sympathy for the Dortmund players who slumped to the turf as their extraordinary fans shouted ‘Borussia, Borussia’.

“Football is coming home” responded the hollering Bayern fans, their celebrations reaching a climax when captain Philipp Lahm hoisted the Champions League trophy as the Bavarians inscribed their name on the cup for the fifth time in their history.

Resplendent in their traditional yellow and black colours, the Borussia fans were indeed living up to their reputation as among the most passionate supporters in Europe.

Not that those of Bayern were found wanting, transforming half the Wembley Stadium into a sea of red and white after thousands of flags were distributed to the fans.

Dortmund were bidding to add to their solitary European Cup triumph when they upstaged Juventus 3-1 in the 1997 final while Bayern were chasing their fifth success, having lost two finals, to Inter and Chelsea, in the last three years.

The line-ups offered no surprises.

Playmaker Mario Goetze, who will don the colours of Bayern next season, was the major absentee for Dortmund due to a thigh muscle injury.

Robert Lewandowski, the Polish striker coveted by a host of Europe’s leading clubs, was the pivotal attacking figure in Jurgen Klopp’s 4-2-3-1 formation.

Behind him were the marauding trio of Jakub Blaszczykowski, Reus and Grosskreutz with Ilkay Gundogan and Sven Bender stationed in front of a four-man defence.

A towering forward in the shape of Mario Mandzukic was handed the no.9 role for Bayern whose departing coach Jupp Heynckes also favours 4-2-3-1.

On the wings, Bayern banked on the pace and agility of the two fearsome Rs, Robben and Ribery with the reliable Muller linking midfield and attack. Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez were Bayern’s deep-lying midfielders.

Hardly three minutes from the game had elapsed when Lewan-dowski served up early notice of his penalty-box prowess. Swivelling to latch on to a cross by Reus, the Polish forward’s effort was deflected away for a corner.

The relentless pressing by the Dortmund players stifled Bayern in those opening stages with the yellow-shirted troops spreading the ball to the wings at speed every time they had possession.

It took two vital interventions by Manuel Neuer to keep Bayern afloat as the Germany goalkeeper first fisted away Lewandowski’s piledriver before blocking a dangerous attempt by Blaszczykowski after another darting run by Reus.

Bayern were teetering, Neuer making another fine save from Reus’s drive after the Dortmund winger had surged clear on the left.

As the first half moved past its halfway mark, Bayern had yet to pose a semblance of threat to Weindenfeller. The first test for him came close to the 26th minute mark when Ribery sped forward on the left and his cross was met by Mandzukic but the Dortmund keeper tipped the ball away for a corner.

Schweinsteiger’s ensuing cross was headed by Martinez but the ball sailed over the crossbar.

Bayern showed signs of waking up from their early torpor. They had a glorious chance to break the deadlock when Robben found himself clear after the ball was deflected into his path but Weidenfaller stayed on his feet to deny the Bayern winger.

Neuer did likewise when diving at Lewandowski’s close-range attempt after a throughball from Reus.

When Robben raced past Mats Hummels, the Dortmund fans held their breath but the Dutch winger dithered and his scrambled effort was cleared by Neven Subotic.

The danger from Bayern was mainly coming from the right where Marcel Schmelzer was having trouble coping with the movement of Robben who was now veering towards the centre with Muller moving to the left.

A long ball from Dante was the cue for Robben to run forward, putting pressure on Mats Hummels whose failure to hit the ball left Bayern’s no.10 one-on-one with Weidenfaller.

As Robben shaped up to shoot, a goal looked inevitable but the ball hit the keeper in the face.

Roared on by their amazing fans, Dortmund emerged for the second half with renewed intent but Bayern settled quickly.

The best chance fell to the Bundesliga champions when Schweinsteiger’s corner flew towards Mandzukic whose close-range header sailed straight into Weidenfaller’s hands.

The relief of the Dortmund fans was palpable but not for long.

A fast Bayern breakaway saw Robben, again lurking on the right, releasing Ribery. As the Frenchman flitted into space from his left-wing station, three Dortmund defenders tried to close down Ribery who deftly picked out Robben, the Dutchman drawing Weidenfaller out of his goal before squaring to Mandzukic who poked the ball home.

That didn’t last long though.

On 68 minutes, Dortmund were awarded a penalty after referee Nicola Rizzoli penalised Dante for a clumsy high-footed challenge on Reus who had burst into the box from the left.

All eyes were on Gundogan as he marched towards the spot but the midfielder of Turkish origin showed nerves of steel, sending Neuer the wrong way in front of his fans.

The game exploded. Bayern would have restored their lead but for a great clearance by Subotic who slid towards the far post to keep out Muller’s angled drive after the German forward had breezed past Weidenfeller to reach a pass from Mandzukic.

The Serbian defender’s crucial intervention had the agitated Klopp punching the air in delight in the technical area. The erstwhile subdued David Alaba was first to a half-clearance by Dortmund but his howitzer was pawed away by Weidenfaller.

Bayern kept moving forward. Muller just overhit his pass towards Mandzukic after being shackled by Subotic but Rizzoli waved away the penalty appeals.

With three minutes remaining, Bayern threatened again. A dashing run by Lahm took him clear on the right and his cut-back dropped to Schweinsteiger but his screamer was kept out by Wiedenfeller.

Bayern struck on 89 minutes. The Dortmund defence was undone by a long ball from the back as Ribery released Robben with an audacious back-heel. The Dutchman snaked his way through and flicked the ball home.

Robben’s redemption was complete.

Victory kept alive Bayern’s hopes of a treble as they face Stuttgart in the cup final in Berlin next Saturday.

Borussia Dortmund
Roman Weidenfeller; Lukasz Piszczek, Neven Subotic, Mats Hummels, Marcel Schmelzer; Ilkay Gundogan, Sven Bender (90 Nuri Sahin), Jakub Blaszczykowski (90 Julian Schieber), Kevin Grosskreutz, Marco Reus; Robert Lewandowski.

Bayern Munich
Manuel Neuer; Philipp Lahm, Jerome Boateng, Dante, David Alaba; Bastian Schweinsteiger, Javi Martinez; Arjen Robben, Thomas Mueller, Franck Ribery (90+1 Luiz Gustavo); Mario Mandzukic (90+4 Mario Gomez).

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy).

Attendance: 86,298.

The European Cup winners...

9 – Real Madrid.
7 – Milan.
5 – Liverpool, Bayern Munich.
4 – Barcelona, Ajax.
3 – Inter, Manchester United.
2 – Benfica, Nottingham Forest, Porto, Juventus.
1 – Celtic, Hamburg, S. Bucharest, Marseille, Feyenoord, Aston Villa, PSV Eindhoven, Red Star, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea.

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