Owen Hargreaves leads Bayern Munich into the UEFA Champions League tournament. Bodog.com has Bayern Munich at 19 to 1 (Bet $1.00 to win $19.00) to win the UEFA Champions League. FC Bayern Munich (German: FC Bayern München) is a German sports club based in Munich, the capital of the state of Bavaria.
With 2 Intercontinental Cups, 4 European Champions League titles, 1 UEFA Cup title, 1 Cup Winners' Cup title, 20 national championships, and 13 German Cups, Bayern Munich is Germany's foremost football club and one of Europe’s elite teams. Bayern is a membership based club and with more than 120,000 members, the fourth largest in the world after Real Madrid, Manchester United FC and FC Barcelona.
Bayern is one of three professional football clubs in Munich. Bayern's main local rival is TSV 1860 Munich, who was the more successful club in the 1960s, winning a cup and a championship.
The rivalry has, at least from a Bayern point of view, lost importance over the last decade, reflecting the lopsided state of the achievements of the two clubs and the absence of players for whom local grudges would still matter. 1860 is considered more working class, and therefore suffers from a diminishing fan base in a city where the manufacturing sector is declining while new industries are booming.
Bodog.com has Bayern Munich at 19 to 1 to win the UEFA Champions League
The SpVgg Unterhaching from the semi rural southern outskirts of town is the third force. Sensationally, they made it to the Bundesliga in 1999, and managed to stay in the top flight for a second season.
Their lasting claim to fame will remain their defeat of Bayer Leverkusen on the last day of the 1999-2000 season when Leverkusen only needed a draw to secure the German championship. Bayern Munich benefited on that occasion to win the Bundesliga. Since then SpVgg has fought off relegation from the German second division.
In 2002 Bayern and TSV 1860 jointly undertook the construction of a new stadium, designed purely for football resulting in the modern Allianz Arena, located on the northern outskirts of Munich.
It has been in use since the beginning of the 2005-06 season and the first player to score a goal in it was Owen Hargreaves against Borussia Mönchengladbach in a 3-0 win.
Owen Hargreaves moved at the age of sixteen from Calgary Foothills to FC Bayern Munich on July 1st 1997. Hargreaves played in the Under-19 team for two and a half years before spending six months with the Amateur team.
On August 12, 2000, Hargreaves played in his first Bundesliga match, making an appearance as a substitute for Carsten Jancker in the 83rd minute. His first start came against SpVgg Unterhaching on September 16 of the same year.
That season proved to be a triumphant one for Bayern Munich; the club was Bundesliga champions and also claimed the Champions League crown. Hargreaves' performances in the Champions League semi final against Real Madrid put him in the international spotlight as he showed he was capable of holding his own against the likes of Roberto Carlos and Luís Figo.
Hargreaves is a gifted midfielder with boundless energy and enthusiasm. He is also an accomplished passer with a keen eye for goal scoring opportunities that must be watched at all times. He is one of Bayern’s bombers alongside Chilean striker Roque Santa Cruz.
UEFA Club Competition honors
European Champions Clubs’ Cup
1973/74, 1974/75, 1975/76
UEFA Champions League
2000/2001
UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup
1966/67
EUSA Cup
1976, 2001
UEFA Cup
1995/96
