Bayern Munich's treble winning triumph in 2013 was a lesson in life

Bayern Munich finished second to Dortmund in their domestic league (Bundesliga) last year & also lost the German Cup final to their bitter rival. To top it all, they hosted the Champions League Final against Chelsea in their own stadium in Munich last May & unbelievably lost that final in a penalty shoot out too.

Bayern players after the penalty shootout loss to Chelsea in the Champions League Final last May

Out of the the above three competitions none hurt more than the Champions League final. Bayern dominated the match for 88 minutes & were winning 1-0 until Chelsea scored from their first corner in the 88th minute. Then Robben missed a penalty in the extra time which would have won Bayern the match 2-1...and finally, in the penalty shoot out Bayern led 3-1 & ended up losing the shoot out 3-4!

Jupp Heynckes, the Bayern coach, & the Bayern management, promised Bayern would be back stronger & more determined this season. Only a handful of people believed they could psychologically bring the players back. Bayern nevertheless set about buying new players in order to plug the gaps that had lost them Champions League finals in 2010 & 2010.

By the end of this season last week, Bayern had won the Bundesliga in record time, were crowned European Champions after accounting for Arsenal, Juventus & barcelona in the knockout phase & beating Dortmund 2-1 at Wembley, and became the first ever German side (and only the 7th ever) to win the treble crown by also winning the German Cup final last weekend.

Robben displaying shear relief after scoring the winner in the Champions League Final vs Dortmund

And Robben, who had missed a penalty vs Dortmund to hand them the Bundesliga title last year, and a penalty vs Chelsea in last year's Champions League Final, scored the winner in the 89th minute in a Man of the Match performance in this year's 2-1 final win vs Dortmund.

A lesson in life on how shear determination & hard work (and money to invest on new players!) can overcome the most difficult mental barriers, and how the agony of a major loss can turn into triumph in life.......................and a well deserved one at that!