The quest for 'Big Ears'
October 24, 2009
Whatever a player may tell you about his priorities, the Champions League is the Holy Grail. To hold the hugely iconic trophy known fondly as "Old Big Ears" aloft tells the world that you have reached the pinnacle of the European game, that you have battled and beaten some of the best clubs in the world.
Domestic success bestows great honor on a player but being crowned European champion is not only in a different league, it’s in a completely different kingdom.
Reaching the top in your domestic league doesn't always guarantee that you can make that leap to the next stage. You can be playing for the very best, have league titles and cups threatening to collapse your trophy cabinet, and yet still have that Grecian urn on steroids missing from your collection.
Just ask Michael Ballack. In May of 2002, a fresh-faced Ballack was 90 minutes away from lifting "Old Big Ears" as the rising star of a hugely over-achieving Bayer Leverkusen team. While Bayer went on to blow a league title which was theirs to lose, they were probably the best team in the Bundesliga that season.
It was with that knowledge that Ballack and Co. faced Real Madrid in the European Cup final.
However, a stroke of Zinedine Zidane genius added a dose of reality to Bayer's pretensions, snatched the title away from Ballack and imploded Leverkusen's season in one fierce volley.
Maybe Ballack left for Bayern Munich later that year in search of the Bundesliga title that so cruelly eluded him at Bayer Leverkusen. It's more likely, however, that he joined Bayern – a team that lifted the Champions League trophy only a year before – because of what he saw as a better chance to win the European Cup.
Ironically, Bayer Leverkusen went further in Europe than Bayern in Ballack's first season in Bavaria, as Munich failed to make it past the first group stage. Ballack got closer the following year when Bayern reached the last 16, again losing to Real Madrid.
He went even closer in 2005 when Bayern lost to Chelsea in the quarter-final. But by 2006, when Bayern started to take backwards steps in Europe, it became clear that Ballack had to leave if he wanted to become a European Champion.
To the island
In joining Chelsea, a team which had just secured back-to-back English Premiership titles and reached European semi-finals in the previous two seasons, Ballack saw a real chance to make his dream a reality.
Chelsea were on the cusp of European glory – everyone believed it was only a matter of time (not to mention money). In his first season with the Blues, however, Chelsea again stuttered at the semi-final stage. The following year, however, presented Ballack with another chance to come out on top in a final. Again, he ended up on the losing side but as it came after a cruel penalty shoot-out, an optimist could say it was closest he'd come to date.
Last season, it was disappointment again at the semi-final stage as Chelsea lost to eventual champions Barcelona.
This year, even at this early stage, Chelsea again look like they will be contenders, winning three games out of three in their group stage, despite not playing their best. Ballack seems to fit into new coach Carlo Ancelotti's team plan and so if things progress and Chelsea advance, Ballack's move to London in search of European success may yet bear fruit.
Bremen to Juventus
But Ballack is not the only star to leave the Bundesliga in search of Europe's biggest prize.
Despite being an integral part of a Werder Bremen team which played exciting soccer and looked as though they had the future potential to capture silverware at home and abroad, Brazilian playmaker Diego left the German club for Juventus in May this year.
Becoming a Serie A champion has as much cache as winning any domestic league but it remains unlikely that Diego purely had designs on the Scudetto when he joined the blanconeri. Diego may have increased his chances of becoming a league champion by joining Juventus, with Werder Bremen seemingly stalled as exciting also-rans, but his chances of winning the Champions League rose exponentially when he put pen to paper in Turin in May.
Bremen had qualified for the Champions League in each of the three seasons that Diego featured but their shortcomings were frequently exposed. In the three Champions League campaigns of Diego’s Werder career, Bremen managed to finish third in their qualifying group in the first two, dropping into the UEFA Cup as a result, but failed to qualify through their disappointing Bundesliga placing in his final season.
This year, as a Juventus player, Diego is performing in a team which has ambitions in the Champions League way beyond that which the Brazilian achieved with Werder.
Two draws and one win from three games may not be form to set the heart a flutter but Juve sit in second place sandwiched between Bayern Munich in third and group leaders Bordeaux. Last-placed club Maccabi Haifa aside, Group A looks like a tough ride. Should Juventus qualify, Diego’s dream may yet live on a little longer.
Off in search of silver
One other player who left the Bundesliga with "Old Big Ears" in mind is Christoph Metzelder.
In the German defender's seven year stint at Borussia Dortmund, a solitary Bundesliga title won in his second season with the club was as good as it was ever going to get and although it may have been a surprise that he ended up at Real Madrid, it was no shock that Metzelder decided to move on after so many barren years.
Again, joining a club with the standing of Real Madrid certainly raised Metzelder's chances of domestic silverware – which he achieved with a Spanish league title and Supercup medal in his first season – but signing for the record holders for the most European Cup wins must have figured in the defender's reasoning for swapping the Ruhrgebiet for the Spanish capital.
Since leaving for Madrid in 2007, however Los Blancos have failed to live up to those famous sides which fill the pages of the record books. In his first season, Real were undone by AS Roma in the first knock-out round and were hammered at the same stage by Liverpool the following year. This year, however, despite losing to AC Milan, Real Madrid have looked like a tasty proposition with the embarrassment of riches coach Manuel Pelligrini has at his disposal.
This, however, may be a hindrance to Metzelder personally. While the hugely talented squad may win the 2009/10 Champions League, whether Metzelder plays in the team is another matter.
Moving to a club capable of winning the Champions League is one thing. Actually playing for that team is another.
Author: Nick Amies
Editor: Kyle James