Bayern Munich deservedly were crowned kings of Europe for the sixth time in their history on Sunday.

The best player on the park Kingsley Coman popped up just before the hour
mark to give Bayern victory. Overall, Bayern Munich deserved to be crowned champions having won every match in the campaign.

Bayern prove their pedigree in final

Once the German side got their noses in front they never looked like relinquishing their grip of the game.
Bayern’s achievement this season can be put down to one man. Coach Hansi
Flick took over on an interim basis after the sacking of Niko Kovac in November.

Bayern machine rolls on

Since then this amazing side has gone on to register 22 successive wins.
This was a Champions League final like no other at the conclusion of a
campaign like no other. The final was originally scheduled to take place in
Istanbul on 30 th May, but was eventually staged 85 days later.

Because of the rescheduling forced on UEFA by the global pandemic, the
knockout stages of the tournament were revamped. Overall, in most people’s eyes this was a success and nobody can question Bayern’s status as worthy champions.

New format certainly a success

There will always be doubters who feel that this conclusion to the Champions League hasn’t really worked. So, did it work? On a personal note I feel it certainly did.

The knockout format, which involved one off games from the quarter final
stage worked well. The only aspect of the game that was missing
understandably was a crowd. However, this was reality and there was plenty of drama with goals and excitement.

You could even feel the tension in the final with the game on a knife edge, that even without fans present.

Season for the underdogs

The last fortnight has seen the underdogs of Atlanta being denied at the last minute by PSG. Lyon stunned the favourites Manchester City and who can ever forget minnows Liepzig’s brave run in the competition.

PSG paid huge amounts of money to lure Neymar and Kylian Mbapope to
France, only to be undone by one of their own. Coman, was originally a
youngster at PSG who then allowed him to go to Juventus and then on to
Bayern.

So the question now for the future is should the one leg format stand or do we go back to two legs. President Aleksander Ceferin has been making noises that this may not be the last we see of the new format.

One leg ties for Champions League must be the way forward. It provides so
much of drama and gives both sides an equal opportunity to win. Yes, sides will always come back from impossible situations to win thanks to a second leg.

Remember, if the normal format of two legs was in operation, would we have seen Lyon, Leipzeg and others spring a surprise. I am not too sure of that.
Football is about a level playing field, one leg matches gives more  equal opportunities for that after all.