Why Pep Guardiola Must Deliver Champions League for Bayern Munich in 2015/16

Success in football is all completely relative. Some fans celebrate the avoidance of relegation like they’d just won the World Cup, while the top sides around the world take certain trophies for granted. In Munich, such a phenomenon is clear for all to see.

At Bayern Munich, the success of one manager to the next is not judged on how many games they win or indeed the form and record of the man before him but by the progress he makes further afield, across the many stadiums and clubs throughout Europe.

Unfortunately, the lack of a genuine, long-term rival to the Bavarian giants in recent seasons—nobody has won consecutive Bundesliga titles aside from Borussia Dortmund since Hamburg in 1983—means that the Allianz Arena faithful have long since given up on seeking out drama and indeed justifiable applause from their side’s domestic form.

Bayern have for quite some time been a victim of their own incredible success. The fans will only accept success made on the continent, while Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal joy is often demoted down the list of priorities.

When discussing the importance of Bayern’s history, fans will bring up the golden years of the '70s, which saw the Bavarian club pick up three consecutive European Cups. That period was followed by the darker years of the '80s and '90s, which saw the club go until 2001 for their next European title. Few fans will note the 12 league titles won in between.

Indeed it was the Champions League that continued to elude and then ultimately immortalise Jupp Heynckes in the eyes of Bayern fans. In his third spell at the club, the former Foals legend fell in the final to Chelsea in Bayern’s own stadium in 2012. A complete and utter disaster for the club and their supporters.

Yet it was a season later, against Dortmund at Wembley, that Heynckes confirmed his spot in Bayern history by winning the European Cup just months before he was replaced by Pep Guardiola. The club may have done him a disservice by pushing him out the back door, but fans will always be grateful to the old coach for bringing their club back to the very top of the European game.

Two seasons and a small fortune later and the Catalonian coach is still trying to emulate his predecessor. Guardiola has broken every record there is to break in the Bundesliga and across German football, but Europe’s greatest prize continues to elude him.

Some would argue that the fall of Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund took the shine off the first two league titles, but in truth the former Barcelona manager had been brought to Munich for one reason and one reason only: to continue winning Champions League trophies.

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

Bayern’s hierarchy are well aware of the fact that not only does it make perfect sporting sense to aim for further European Cups over domestic success, but the marketing team will have plenty to add to the matter.

While the Bundesliga continues to grow in Asia and across North America, its TV deal still lags behind the bright lights of the English Premier League and the allure of Barcelona and Real Madrid. Bayern know that if they are to continue competing with the giants of Spain and England in the financial markets, they have to continue beating them in European finals.

This all accumulates to form one, almighty task for the current coach of the Bavarian side. For not only will Guardiola need a European Cup in what may be his final year to be considered a success among his very own fans, but the board also need him to continue striving for the ultimate prize to keep atop of their English and Spanish competitors.

By the time May rolls around and this current season has come to a reasonable conclusion, the odds are that Bayern will indeed be picking up their fourth league title in a row. And although it may prove to be a Bundesliga record worthy of any applause, a number of the Bayern faithful will hold their praise until May 28.

On that day, at the San Siro in Milan, two teams will fight it out to call themselves champions of Europe. And if Bayern aren’t one of those teams, with Guardiola screaming instructions from the dugout, then this entire three-year project may indeed go down as something of an anti-climax.

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