‘Football is a simple game…

… 22 players chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win’ is one of the most famous football quotations. After the Champions League Final in Munich Gary Lineker added to his famous quote ‘not any more‘ after Chelsea beat Bayern in the Champions League Final. On top of that, many commentators took particular pride that it was on penalties, a German special weapon in big finals. In Munich Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ivica Olic failed to score and Drogba won the trophy for Chelsea with his last shot in a Chelsea shirt. It was indeed a rare occasion when an English team triumphed at a penalty shoot-out against a German team. Statistically, all commentators are wrong. For Chelsea only Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole converted their spot kicks while three Germans scored: Philipp Lahm, Mario Gomez and Manuel Neuer.  That’s Germany 3 England 2. Nonetheless, Chelsea have won because Bastian Schweinsteiger and Ivica Olic failed while David Luiz and Didier Drogba scored. The question implied here is, to what extent can Chelsea still be labelled an English club? Their owner is a Russian billionaire, their chairman is an American. Bayern Munich on the other hand are a German club throughout: Uli Hoeneß is president, Jupp Heynckes is the coach and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is their chairman. This is no attempt to denounce Chelsea’s triumph, far from it. But looking at it from a point of view with the Anglo-German football rivalry, it does make sense.