Exclusive:Exclusive: German legend opens up on Chelsea moment that fuelled Champions League fire
Bastian Schweinsteiger grasped his shirt collar in dismay as he watched his penalty cannon off the post in the 2012 Champions League final against Chelsea.
Bayern Munich were meant to win it... They were on home soil, in their own backyard, and when Thomas Müller scored late in the game it felt predestined for Die Roten. But it wasn't to be, and Didier Drogba stepped up to deal the final blow, depriving the German giants of the most glorious of nights.
Instead of dwelling on it, though, Schweinsteiger says they used it as motivation, and that he saw his moment over and again in his mind's eye, drawing upon it a year later against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. He played the full game in London as they won 2-1.
“I thought about it many times,” he told 3 Added Minutes on Heineken’s Champions League Trophy Tour. “Especially when we lined up and the anthem started. I always had pictures in my brain of the defeat against Chelsea.
Schweinsteiger’s Chelsea pain spurred him on
“When we lost it in 2012, the whole 2012/13 Champions League season’s motivation was actually the pain of that defeat against Chelsea. It pushed us into the final, and then in the end we won it. When the final whistle came at Wembley, and it was over, you realise that you’ve finally got the trophy in your hands and are lifting it in the air.
“It’s special, and felt like we’d achieved our goal after literally chasing the trophy for years… After three finals it was great to hold it in your hands, and to share it with teammates who you’ve known since you were like 15-years-old.”
And just over a year later he went from being a European champion with his club to a world champion with his nation, lifting the World Cup in Brazil. For many it could trigger an existential crisis… But not Schweinsteiger.
“For me, it made me hungry for more titles to be honest,” he explained. “When you achieve trophies like the Champions League or a World Cup, obviously you’re on top of your career but I always had the motivation to win more, and it really did make me more hungry."
Schweinsteiger ended his career an eight-time Bundesliga winner, with a World Cup, Champions League and FA Cup title on his CV. He retired in 2019 after leaving Major Soccer League outfit, Chicago Fire.