Borussia Dortmund have been the darlings of soccer nerds and people who dislike rich clubs since Jürgen Klopp began to seriously reverse the team’s fortunes in this second year in charge of the team. They’ve beaten Bayern Munich to multiple trophies and have a chance to make their rivals runners-up for the third time in four years, but it’s likely that their window to compete at this level -- at least in the short term -- is closing.
Borussia Dortmund vs. Bayern Munich, 2013 UEFA Champions League final: BVB’s last hurrah
This could be Borussia Dortmund’s last chance to win a Champions League title for a long time. As for Bayern Munich, get used to seeing a lot of them.
More from our team sites: Bayern Munich blog Bavarian Football Works
The confirmed departure of Mario Götze, almost certainly imminent departure of Robert Lewandowski and the likely interest from big clubs in Mats Hummels during the summer means that Dortmund are almost certain to have a weaker squad next season. They’re beginning to erase massive debts from the last decade and Klopp will have money from transfer fees to reinvest in the squad, but it could take the better part of a decade before they ascend to this level again.
Meanwhile, Bayern Munich's best players aren't going anywhere, and are all on the right side of 30, save for Franck Ribery. They're going to spend more money on reinforcements in the summer and there's likely to be a minimal drop-off from Jupp Heynckes to Pep Guardiola when the Spaniard takes over the reigns this summer. As heartbreaking as another final loss would be for the Bavarians, they're going to return to this stage again in the near future. Dortmund face what is almost certainly their last chance to win a European Cup for a long time when they meet Bayern in the Champions League final, but this is probably the third of many trips to this game for their opponents over the next five years or so.
The game kicks off at 2:45 p.m. ET, 7:45 p.m. local time from Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday. You can catch the game on FOX in the United States, Sportsnet in Canada and Sky Sports in the U.K. and Germany.
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