Germany coach Joachim Low has paid tribute to Bayern Munich after the Bavarians beat fellow Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund to win the Champions League.
Arjen Robben’s 89th-minute strike was sufficient to beat Jurgen Klopp’s side 2-1 at Wembley on Saturday as they finally tasted victory in their third final in four seasons.
It meant the Germans became five-time European champions and Low was quick to acknowledge the contribution of both teams while offering congratulations to Jupp Heynckes’ side.
Low, quoted in the German press, said: “Congratulations to Bayern Munich on winning the Champions League. I especially congratulate Jupp Heynckes on this success.
“It was a high-class, fast-moving final with all that is good about football. Both teams have shown they were rightly in the final.
“Dortmund made it extremely difficult for the Bavarians, especially in the first half. During the second half, Bayern had a lot of pressure and scored the decisive goal.
“Anyone who is in a Champions League final three times in four years deserves to win the title. Maybe Bayern this year were simply in line.”
National team manager Oliver Bierhoff added: “Europe has seen a very big final with 11 national team players on the pitch at kick-off. I congratulate Bayern Munich, as well as Borussia Dortmund, what a grand final!
“Today we have witnessed a great moment for German football which was watched by the whole of Europe.”
Wolfgang Niersbach, president of the German Football Association (DFB), said: “My compliments go to both clubs because they have represented German football sensationally this season in the Champions League.
“Congratulations to Bayern after the bitter defeat last year they showed a great response and absolutely deserve this title.
Bayern match-winner Robben insists the players are determined to add to their Champions League triumph and give their outgoing manager Heynckes the perfect send-off by securing a stunning treble next weekend.
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.
Now only Stuttgart in next weekend’s 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.
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 his 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 outstanding players in the final, both donned T-shirts proclaiming: “Football’s Coming Hoam” immediately after the final whistle.
‘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 now 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.
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. We are now the best team in Europe, and hope to remain there.”