Bayern win the Cup

Just like in last season's Champions League final, Arjen Robben made the difference - only this time Dortmund were defeated by a bad goal-line decision as much as by the tireless Dutchman.

Bayern Munich were the stronger side throughout the first half, and almost opened the scoring inside ten minutes, when Thomas Müller broke clear, only to blast the ball straight into the face of Roman Weidenfeller.

Robben, Bayern's perennially dangerous Dutchman, also had a shot on goal early on, but this time Weidenfeller only had to drop to his left to stop his relatively straightforward shot. It was not the last time these two were to square off in the game.

Those two chances were already more than Dortmund would show in the entire first period - Jürgen Klopp's men looked stifled, their attackers regularly chopped down or pulled back when they threatened to break. These tactical fouls seemed to be a deliberate strategy - a point the BVB coach brought up after the game.

Then again, Bayern had problems of their own. Having already lost key defender David Alaba the day before in training, Pep Guardiola's personnel headache got worse on the half-hour mark when his captain - and key player - Philipp Lahm went down with a foot injury. Franck Ribery, himself struggling with a sore back, took his place, and was to be substituted himself in extra time.

With Bayern re-adjusting their midfield, the game drifted a little for the rest of the half, and Dortmund failed to take advantage - only Robert Lewandowski's snap-shot just before the break threatened Manuel Neuer's goal.

Second half controversies

The tempo increased significantly in the second half, and Müller very nearly scored again within minutes of the re-start when he muscled his way onto the end of a Ribery cross and turned the ball in, but could not get the ball either side of the towering Weidenfeller.

Dortmund also upped their game, and were rewarded with a string of free-kicks from just outside the Bayern area. One of these ought to have led to the opening goal in the 64th minute, when Neuer missed Nuri Sahin's perfect delivery, and Mats Hummels nodded it over the line - only for Dante to hack the ball clear. No goal was given, though replays seemed to show the ball a good six inches over the line. Then again, it also seemed to show that the BVB defender's right foot offside by the same margin.

The game had opened up now, and within minutes the ball slammed into Hummels' elbow at the other end - triggering frantic appeals from the Bayern players. Again the referee waved them away, but Dortmund continued to press forward, and Oliver Kirch - who came on in place of a largely anonymous Henrikh Mkhitaryan - almost made the breakthrough with a thundering strike that Neuer did well to punch clear.

Edgy extra-time

Lahm's absence did much to level the teams in quality, and the tight, edgy nature of the game ensured extra time. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang very nearly broke the deadlock within minutes of the re-start after Toni Kroos lost the ball in his own half, but the Frenchman's shot skittered just wide of Neuer's upright.

As the players succumbed to the inevitable spate of cramp, there seemed nothing to choose between the two teams - but then the game sprang to life as the second period of extra time got under way. Robben sent a weak shot straight into Weidenfeller's arms, but his throw out to Kevin Grosskreutz was equally poor, and was picked up by Jerome Boateng. The German was alert enough to swing the ball straight back across the penalty area, where Robben was still loitering, and his side-footed effort somehow sneaked between Weidenfeller's legs.

Dortmund toiled on, and nearly claimed an equalizer in injury time, but Marco Reus' shot was deflected over. Then Bayern broke from the resulting corner, and Claudio Pizarro rolled the ball to a weary Müller, who just about fought off Piszczek and staggered past Weidenfeller to sidefoot home with the last energy left in his legs.

Joy, relief, and annoyance

Bayern's stars expressed relief as well as a certain irritation after the game - the criticism after the defeat to Real Madrid had clearly touched some nerves. "We had to take a lot in the last few weeks - a lot of it was justified, but sometimes it was exaggerated," Lahm told German TV channel ARD after the game. "We were clearly the better team over 120 minutes."

"The criticism of me after the Real Madrid game was certainly justified," admitted Guardiola. "I made tactical mistakes. I still haven't created the team I would like to have."

Klopp, on the other hand, had his own concerns: "I didn't see what I wanted to see from the players in the first half, but they all gave everything," he said. And Dante's goal-line clearance struck deep: "There were few games where a goal would've done us more good than that one."