Always have been. When were we not? After losing some meaningless matches? Our defensive organization could improve, but I don't think any reasonable person ever thought we were no longer contenders.
So who's convinced about a turn of form after beating a 2nd league team 5:1? I guess Im just a worry wart these days.
Haven't checked the stats on this, but I loved FCK's coach's comment: Kosta Runjaic (Kaiserslautern coach): “Congratulations to Bayern on reaching the final. I have no criticism of my team. Our performance was a good advertisement for FC Kaiserslautern, we never looked for a place to hide and we were aggressive. It felt like we had more shots at goal than Manchester United....
No one has really parked the bus against us. The Bundesliga in general plays very open and attacking we've seen a lot of lop sided games the whole season
Pep Guardiola: “Kaiserslautern were very brave from the start. We had problems in possession. We took a step forward in terms of team spirit. I’m delighted and happy with the way we kept battling.“ Matthias Sammer: “We’re delighted to be in the final, but I’m not happy with how we’re playing. There are too many lapses in concentration and not much by way of a group dynamic. I think we’re being too positive and too nice to each other. We need a little more fire and also the courage to speak out and talk about these things. We gave the players enough space for a breather after sealing the championship. If things stay as they are it’ll be tough collecting another trophy. But if we can get back to playing as we did before wrapping up the league we’re capable of winning everything.“ Toni Kroos: “The goals that put us in the lead did us the world of good. We hadn’t got into the game up to that point, we didn’t create any chances and our play wasn’t fluid. You sensed we had shaken off a burden after that and we played better. I’m looking forward to the final.“ http://www.fcbayern.de/en/news/news/2014/kaiserslautern-cup-reaction-160414.php
If Bayern repeat the treble and Germany win the WC does Lahm catapult himself to beat Ronaldo for the ballon d'or.
Not as long as Messi or R onaldo are on the ticket. Its a popularity contest, kind of like when low information voters elect a dead candidate.
Cannavaro was the last defender to win the trophy after captaining the Italians to WC victory in 2006.