Yes, OK, this is the German renaissance – and the juxtaposition of Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in Saturday’s European Cup final certainly indicates that German football is doing something right.
But, in one small detail, the match is a notable coup for the English game: it is being played at Wembley, the second time in just three years that European club football’s flagship occasion has been staged underneath the now famous arch.
Such a short interval between finals is unprecedented for one given venue: the smallest gap prior to this over the 57 previous finals was four years, for both Wembley itself (twin towers Wembley, in 1968 and 1971) and Vienna’s Prater Stadium (as it then was, in 1987 and 1990).