Saturday 25 May 2013

Week 37: Gibt es irgendwelche Nebenwirkungen?

And so we have arrived at the end of the season and The Grambler has proved to be an interesting experiment/complete waste of everyone's time (delete as applicable).  Either way, we have raised £95.53 for the Bobby Moore Fund for Bowel Cancer Research and more importantly, raised some awareness about the evils of bowel cancer (hopefully).  But wait!  We have one last chance to add to that total with the showcase game of the European season taking place tonight.  Yes, 'tis the Champions League final tonight and the whole world will be watching as Borusia Dortmund and Bayern Munich face-off to claim the greatest prize in club football.

The Bundesliga's reputation has been on the rise in recent years.  Fans across Europe have taken note of the Germanic league for a number of reasons; fan ownership of clubs, affordable ticket prices, inclusive travel deals for supporters and safe standing areas being just a few of the initiatives admired but sadly not replicated elsewhere.  The football on show has also been rather entertaining and it is little wonder that a host of German-based players are being linked with multi-million Euro transfers this summer.  Yet for some reason, the 'experts' paid immense wages by the likes of the BBC and ITV were surprised to find that Dortmund and Munich should be challenging for the Champions League final.  This is largely because they are utterly clueless, have no knowledge of anything outside of the Premiership, are not worth a penny of their wage and have been given a job because they once played football and have friends in the right places.  I hate them all.

Tonight, we shall see which team has the right to call themselves Die Große Wurst*, as the official Germanic title goes.  And it gives us once last chance to have a Gramble this season!  In order to keep it as exciting as possible, I will place one bet on each possible outcome; Borussia to win, draw at full-time and Bayern to win.  The Grambler will be picking the scores and goalscorers.  So I hope you all have your Bavarian beer, Bratwurst and Kinder Surprise at the ready for what should be a wonderful game of football.  And remember, if you have enjoyed any of the ramblings or Gramblings on this here website over these past eight months, please take a moment to make a small donation to our choice of charity.  It would make one Grambler very happy! 

*The big sausage.  May not be in any way official.

Bet 1: Borusia Dortmund to win
Dortmund finished the Bundesliga season in second place, 25 points behind tonight's opponents.  But Jurgen Klopp has had his side playing some very attractive football and their semi-final win over Real Madrid surprised many.  Polish striker Robert Lewandowski scored four goals in the first leg of said tie and this could well be his last game for Die Schwarzgelben, with a host of top-clubs interested in paying top-dollar for his services.  Another standout this season has been Mario Gotze, who will sadly miss the final with a groin injury.  He has already agreed to join Munich this summer for a reported fee of 37 million Euros.

The Grambler says that if Dortmund win, the score shall be an impressive 3-2 with Marco Reus grabbing one of the goals.  An ambitious £1 bet on said result will win us £60.  Yippee!  

Bet 2: Bayern Munich to win
Bayern fans suffered heartache last season as Chelsea beat them on their home-turf to take the Champions League final and they will be hopeful of making up for this tonight.  They eased to the Bundesliga title this season, setting a new record for the earliest title winners with six-games still to play.  Celebrated manager Jupp Heynckes is due to step down at the end of the season and Munich have pulled off something of a coup in persuading Pep Guardiola to take on the coaches role in his return to management.  Die Roten have also started to splash the cash, with the previously mentioned Gotze already on board for next season and a host of big-name players rumoured to be joining him at the Allianz Arena, including convicted cannibal Luis Suarez.

The Grambler has claimed that should Bayern Munich be victorious, the score shall be a respectable 2-1 and Arjen Robben will score one of those goals.  A £1 bet here will win a welcome £55.  Hooray!

Bet 3 Draw
Not much more to say about this one...  If the score is 1-1 cometh the 90th minute, we shall win a humongous £6.50!

That's it!  All Grambled out for the season!  Thank you for your support throughout the season and please do take the time to read up on the wonderful work of the Bobby Moore Fund and spread the word about the fight against evil, evil bowel cancer.  With any luck, we shall be back up ad running come the start of the new season (depending on good health).

Happy Grambling!

(Also, buy a t-shirt!)


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