Have Germany taken Spain's mantle?

Out with the old ... Bayern Munich celebrate their UCL progression at Barca's expense. Source: Lluis Gene / AFP

Two German teams battling it out at Wembley for Europe's top club football prize. Oh, how to make a point.

But while German football is the flavour of the month at the expense of the previously all-conquering Spaniards, Wembley is a great symbol to explain the so-called shift in power taking place. 

Two years ago, Barcelona dismantled Manchester United at Wembley in the European showpiece. Messi, Iniesta, Xavi were at their mesmerising best. Yet here we are two years on and it’s essentially the same team – without Messi, who was hamstrung for the second-leg. 

"Right now they (Bayern) are at an extraordinary level," Xavi told Canal Plus. "They have been better and very much deserve to be in the finals.

"Physically, we've been in bad shape with regards to players missing. Busquets, Abidal, Puyol, Mascherano...they are important players. But neither is that an excuse.

"Bayern have been better. Mentally strong, physically."

On one level, it is as simple as that. As Australian sports fans know far too well, stand still and eventually, no matter how extraordinary you have been, your run doesn’t continue forever. 

It’s not saying it’s the end of Barcelona or tiki-taka. Indeed, Barca are still champions of La Liga. It’s just that the Barcelona juggernaut, still able to make a sixth consecutive European semi, is not as ruthless. With a style requiring energy, tempo, fluency and tenacity to win and probe with the ball up the pitch, this older Barcelona have not been at the races. Or as Bayern Munich chief Uli Hoeness taunted - "Barcelona have lost their aura".

But how different this debate would be had Malaga not crumbled in stoppage-time of their quarter-final against Borussia Dortmund. 

Spain, the so-called defeated power, were about to have three teams in the semis to Germany’s one, with Barcelona showing their resolve by overcoming big challenges from AC Milan and Paris Saint Germain. 

But we learn a fair bit about the renaissance in German football from Jurgen Klopp’s side, as Dortmund, a club re-built by a great young coach in recent years, over-ran, out-played, out-thought and out-enthused one of the most expensively assembled squads in history. Dynamic. High tempo. And the flamboyant Klopp, whose ambition many have compared to a young Jose Mourinho, out-witted his Real Madrid opponent. 

The Spanish giants are filled with overseas megastars: Ronaldo, Benzema, Kaka, Di Maria, Modric and, ironically, Ozil and Khedira. 

Just over 10 years ago, the Bundesliga had 60 per cent foreign players. 

But a dismal Euro 2000 changed everything for German football, with a demand to improve spawning youth academies at all Bundesliga clubs. It’s not a choice – it’s a requirement of their license, as Bundesliga clubs came to the party to help re-build the country’s football hopes. It’s not a disparate effort by the clubs; the program is governed by the German FA. 

Today, 22.4 per cent of the Bundesliga is foreign; the league is a veritable academy for the national side. 

Marco Reus and Thomas Müller, Ilkay Gundogan, Toni Kroos and Mario Götze are all testament to that process. 

So while Barcelona and Real Madrid’s golden crop of players have formed part of two European Championship finals wins and World Cup win, it looks like the next great crop could emanate from Germany. 

Things ebb and flow in the Champions League. England have had a finalist in seven of the last eight deciders.

Barcelona have won three crowns since 2005. This is Bayern Munich’s third final in four years. 

The cycle has turned Germany’s way in club land – can they remain there? 

"Football works in generations," former West Germany international Bernd Schuster, who played for Barcelona and Real Madrid, told Marca. 

"Over recent years Spain has had a great team and has produced some fantastic players, but every cycle comes to an end, much like what happened with Italy or Brazil.

"German football is trying to climb to the top of the pile right now."

Bundesliga boss Christian Seifert says this season has seen a shift from England to Germany as the main powerhouse in European football. No wonder Robbie Kruse, Mitchell Langerak, Marco Rojas, Matthew Leckie, Nikita Rukavytsya and Mustafa Amini strive to succeed there. 

"It is important that two German clubs have produced excellent performances and now the whole world is looking at the Bundesliga," said Seifert, chief executive of the German football league (DFL).

"Whether it is now the strongest league in the world, you can't tell after one season but it was not so long ago that there were three English teams in the semi-finals.

"Every fan should be very proud.

"The Bundesliga is currently very much in the foreground and anyone interested in football can't fail to pay respect to Bayern and Dortmund."

Question now is will it translate to the national side in 2014 …

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