Let the Fun Begin! Champions League Final, 2013.

FC Bayern Munich vs Borussia Dortmund 

The time has come, at last! What do you mean you have no idea what I’m talking about? Let me tell you, then: this Saturday night we will finally know the winner of this year’s Champions League! You don’t really need to be a big soccer fan to be tempted to spend two hours in front of your television and preferably along with some good old friends, bringing over some beers and pizzas. The Champions League final is an event of global interest, as soccer (we all know it!) is the “King of Sports”. And we love sports, as much as we are thrilled with the competition.

As a matter of fact, the interest for the winner of a Champions league Final is usually so high that hundreds of millions of viewers have the chance to watch it live from their television screens. From South Korea to Nigeria, from Argentina to Russia and from England (the motherland of soccer) to Japan, the whole world is waiting for this night!

Two German teams -FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund - qualified this year for the big final. If I want to be completely honest with you, that didn’t make me entirely happy; you see, I’m actually a big fan of Barcelona. However, I couldn’t have done otherwise than to accept the simple fact that the two BEST teams made it to the final this year and Barcelona, unfortunately, was not one of them this time. Even if I supported Barcelona against Bayern Munich during the semifinal that took place a few weeks ago, the performance of the German team in these two games was very good and one might say nearly exceptional, given the reputation of the opponents. It also brought a shade of bitterness, though, if comparing Barcelona's performance from previous recent years and the nevertheless weaker performance that they had this year.

It takes to be a narrow minded fanatic not to accept that your team IS NOT always the one deserving to win and Bayern, for some years now, it is undoubtedly the best team in Europe. Since, despite some sadness in doing so, I accept that Barca is not on top right now, I consequently acknowledge the fact that Bayern is for the moment the top team of the world.

As for speaking in terms of the big admiration that I have as a soccer fan for players from Argentina and Brazil (just like Messi, for instance), I still have to admit on the fact that the European soccer clubs that they are playing for are definitely a few steps ahead in terms of organization and budgets, compared to soccer clubs from the places that these remarkable players originate from. One might accurately point out on the fact that I am not at all ashamed of openly declaring that I am a big fan of European soccer – always! Given this detail that could not pass unnoticed, I am looking forward for next 'Saturday night's fever'.

Bayern Munich will play against Borussia Dortmund, yet another German giant that has risen from mediocrity to the top in only few years of hard work and serious planning. The final will take place in London, on the legendary Wembley Stadium. One fascinating detail is that the two teams took around 25.000 tickets each for the needs of their devoted supporters. Why am I not surprised!? However, what comes as an even more striking detail is that there were more than… half amillion Dortmund fans that applied for one of these tickets! Given the huge discrepancy between demand and supply, I guess that many fans will have no other choice than to watch this big game elsewhere than on the Wembley Stadium - at home, in their favorite pub or on their friends' sofas.

As for the Bayern fans that couldn’t make it to London, well, they are given another choice. The game will be screened on Bayern’s stadium, the famous Allianz Arena, one of Europe’s most impressive soccer venues. Some 45.000 of Bayern's fans surely hope to celebrate the 5^th trophy in the club’s history. In case you’re not one the those lucky few who will go to watch the game on Wembley, then you might just as well be interested to explore Bayern’s headquarters, so make sure to book your place at the FC Bayern Soccer Tour with the GoSeeDoattraction tickets.  As for other available options, another screen will be placed in Theresienwiese, where Oktoberfest is annually held. I wonder if Bayern fans will drink more beers than the Oktoberfest attendees.  That, we could not know for certain! What I know for sure, though, is that Munich is a fantastic city; who wouldn’t take pride in 'taking a ride' to the city of BMW and BC Bayern, after all?

Soccer-wise, from where we stand at the moment, there is only one thing we can be sure of at the moment: no one can safely predict the winner in a game between two equal teams.  We could even call it a derby. One can only hope for the best team to win, scoring as many breathtaking goals as possible.

And one last thing: Be it coincidence or not, Gary Lineker’s famous words could not possibly be left unvoiced, especially this year. Lineker, a legend of British soccer, once said that “soccer is a game for twenty two people that run around, play the ball and in the end Germany always wins." Like it or not, this year Germans will celebrate the trophy and who can possibly deny them that!