Bayern hero Robben sets sights on landing treble for Heynkes

Bayern Munich match-winner Arjen Robben insists the players are determined to add to their Champions League triumph and give outgoing manager Jupp Heynckes the perfect send-off by securing a stunning treble this weekend.
Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben kisses the UEFA Champions League trophy during the UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium, London. (Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.)Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben kisses the UEFA Champions League trophy during the UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium, London. (Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.)
Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben kisses the UEFA Champions League trophy during the UEFA Champions League Final at Wembley Stadium, London. (Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.)

A thrilling victory at Wembley over Borussia Dortmund saw Bayern crowned European champions after finishing beaten finalists in 2010 and 2012.

For Heynckes, the 68-year-old coach who is retiring at the end of the season, winning the Champions League adds to a record-breaking title win in the Bundesliga.

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Now only Stuttgart in the German Cup final stand in the way of a treble.

Dutch winger Robben, who made the first goal for Mario Mandzukic and scored a cool winner in the 89th minute, said: “This is the perfect season, and we can finish it off next week. If we win the cup final, then we will win the treble and that’s our target.

“I am very proud, proud to be part of this team and to finally win this Champions League is a dream come true.”

Bayern’s Germany midfielder Thomas Muller said the players would not rest on their laurels.

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Muller said: “We will enjoy this, of course, especially because we were so sad last year when we lost in the final to Chelsea.

“But we want to keep going to the end of the season and win the cup as well for the boss.

“He has had an incredible career and this would be the perfect way to end it – in fact it’s a good thing he has done this in his last season when he’s 68, because if he was 25 he would have to end his career now at the peak.”

Robben and Manuel Neuer, two of Bayern Munich’s leading players in the final, both donned T-shirts proclaiming: “Football’s Coming Hoam” immediately after the final whistle.

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‘Hoam’ is Bavarian dialect for home, and both Bayern and Borussia Dortmund played their part to the full in ensuring a wonderful occasion at Wembley, chosen by UEFA to host the final to mark the Football Association’s 150th anniversary.

For Neuer, who is challenging for the unofficial tag of best goalkeeper in the world, it was his first Champions League winner’s medal to add to his first Bundesliga title.

“To win two titles in one year is incredible, now we have a great chance of three trophies which is unbelievable,” he said.

Another player who did much to secure the trophy was Javi Martinez, the Spanish midfielder who was one of four relatively unheralded players who arrived in Munich last summer – along with Dante, Xherdan Shaqiri and Mandzukic – and has transformed the team.

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Not only is the treble in sight, but Bayern have smashed records for points and goal difference in the Bundesliga.

Martinez said: “You couldn’t really ask for more in my first year, it’s incredible.

“We are now the best team in Europe, and we hope we can remain there in the coming years.”

Borussia Dortmund defender Mats Hummels insists his club can maintain their place among Europe’s elite even with the loss of some star players, such as Mario Gotze, who is heading to Bayern. Polish striker Robert Lewandowski is also expected to leave.

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Hummels said Dortmund would remain true to their values and would be able to recover from the 2-1 defeat and the departures.

“Of course it is going to be hard if we have two of our best players going, but others can come in and take their place,” said Hummels.

“We don’t buy stars, we don’t buy big players; we make them into stars and that’s the way I really like it.

“It’s going to be really hard, but we know we will get some new players and I am really looking forward to that.

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“We have showed how well we can play. We want to prove it further in the coming years, and I hope we will achieve that and make it to the final again.”

Dortmund succumbed to Robben’s 89th-minute goal after a pulsating final and Hummels admitted they paid the price for focusing on the likelihood of extra time.

“We started thinking about extra time. I don’t know how we let Bayern play so many long balls, and from one of them they managed to score the second goal.”

Fellow centre-back Neven Subotic, who had been an outstanding leader in the rearguard action as Bayern searched for the late winner, claimed there was more than a touch of fortune about Robben’s goal.

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“It was kind of depressing how they scored that second goal. I’m not sure that Franck Ribery wanted to backheel it to Robben, but that’s how football is. You’ve got to take it for what it is and learn from it. We are a young team, that’s for sure, and we’re going to take this as a lesson and move forward.

“This would have been the top of the mountain. But we got so far, and it was a great journey up until now.

“It was anything but a bad performance, so we can’t really say that we didn’t try and didn’t run.

“We might have set a new running record; that’s what it felt like. We really gave it our all, but, in the end, in football sometimes luck decides the match and that’s just how it is.”

Marco Reus, Dortmund’s German international forward, admitted it had been a sickening blow to lose so late.

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