Disappointment of the season
Kiran Thakare
Deja vu in the Champions League. Yet another disappointing end to the Champions League for Bayern Munich. The Bavarians have failed to reach the final of the competition since 2013. After suffering three consecutive semi-final defeats under Pep Guardiola and another disappointing exit under Ancelotti in the ’16-17 season, many hoped this would be Bayern’s year.
However, the Bavarians felt short at the semi-final stage once again. They shouldn’t necessarily be disappointed with their performances in the games. The team delivered very good performances in both legs and dominated Madrid. But they just failed to polish their performances with output in clutch situations of both games. Bayern need to build on these performances and come back strong in the Champions League next season.
Benjamin Scott
Other Bundesliga clubs. Despite Bayern’s fantastic turnaround under Jupp Heynckes, much of their dominance in Germany’s top flight is owed to the dismal season for other top Bundesliga clubs.
After a great start to the season, Borussia Dortmund capitulated and never looked close to being genuine competitors. RB Leipzig, Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke and Hoffenheim all ended the season in decent positions, but struggled to find consistency and never really threatened to knock Bayern off their perch atop the Bundesliga table.
Next season, it’d not only be nice to see other German clubs find success in European play, but to actually provide Bayern Munich with some real competition domestically.
Guillermo Kurten
An early exit from Champions League play. It should come as no surprise to anyone that Bayern’s biggest disappointment of the season was none other than the heartbreaking UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of — once again — Real Madrid. This was the second consecutive season in which the Bavarian giants suffered at the hands of Real.
Likewise, it was yet another season in which Bayern Munich suffered an exit from Champions League play to a Spanish side. Quite frankly, this should come as a wake-up call to the management of the club.
Bayern Munich used to be commonly referred to as La Bestia Negra (the Black Beast) in Spain. Unfortunately, it seems like those days are gone, at least for the time being. All the semi-final exits (and one quarter-final exit) to Spanish sides have to serve as a siren for change. Bayern will need to make personnel changes to stay competitive in Europe.
Garett Kerber
The semi-final loss to Real Madrid. The UEFA Champions League semi-final was by far the biggest disappointment for me. To look, in my estimation, so much like the better side in both legs and lose — not entirely due to bad refereeing, but certainly in large part — was just gut-wrenching. Losing to Real Madrid again makes it even worse.