Bayern Munich was founded in 1900 by members of a Munich gymnastics club. The club played its first games in the regional Bayern league. Bayern's first success came in 1926 in the form of the championship of southern Germany, an achievement repeated two years later. Their first national honour was gained in 1932, winning the German championship by defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2-0 in the final. The advent of the Hitler regime put an abrupt end to Bayern's development. The president and the coach, both of whom were Jewish, left the country. Many others in the club also saw themselves purged. In the following years, Bayern, taunted as the "Jew's club", decayed into irrelevance.

After the war Bayern became a member of the southern conference of the German first division, which was split five ways at that time, the Oberliga S�d. Bayern struggled, and in 1956 suffered the ignominy of relegation. The following season the club returned to the Oberliga and even won the German Cup for the first time, beating Fortuna D�sseldorf 1-0 in the final. The club progressed to become one of the better sides of the league, but struggled financially, verging on bankruptcy at the end of the 1950s. Manufacturer Roland Endler provided the necessary funds and was rewarded with four years at the helm of the club. In 1963 the Oberligas in Germany were consolidated to one national league, the Bundesliga. Bayern were denied membership, but gained promotion two years later, fielding a team with young talents like Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd M�ller and Sepp Maier - who would later be collectively referred to as the axis.

In their first Bundesliga season Bayern finished third and also won the German Cup, qualifying for the European Cup Winners Cup, which they won in the following year in a dramatic final against Scottish club Rangers, when Franz "the Bull" Roth scored the decider in a 1-0 extra time victory. In 1967 Bayern retained the German Cup, but slow overall progress saw a new coach, Branko Zebec take over. He replaced Bayern's offensive style of play with a more disciplined approach, and in doing so achieved the first league and cup double in Bundesliga history, using only 13 players throughout the season.

1970 saw a new coach, Udo Lattek, taking charge. After winning the cup in his first season he led Bayern to their third German championship. The deciding match in the 1971-72 season against Schalke 04 was the first match in the brand new Olympic Stadium, and was also the first live televised match in Bundesliga history. Bayern swept Schalke away 5-1 and thus claimed the title, also setting several records, including points gained and goals scored. Bayern also won the next 2 championships, but the zenith was the triumph in the 1974 European Champions Cup final against Atl�tico Madrid, which Bayern won 4-0 after a replay. In the following season the team was unsuccessful domestically, but defended their European title by defeating Leeds United in the final when "Bull" Roth and M�ller secured victory with their late goals. A year later in Glasgow, AS Saint-�tienne were defeated by another Franz Roth goal and Bayern became the third club to win the trophy in 3 consecutive years. The final trophy won by Bayern in this era was the Intercontinental Cup, in which Brazilian club Cruzeiro Belo Horizonte were defeated over two legs.
The 1980s were a period of off-field turmoil for Bayern, with many changes in personnel and financial problems. On the field, the Bundesliga title was won in 1980 and 1981, but two trophyless seasons followed, after which former coach Udo Lattek returned. Bayern won the 1984 cup final, then went on to win 5 championships in 6 seasons, including a double in 1986. However, European success was elusive during the decade; Bayern only managed to claim the runners-up spot in the European Cup in 1982 and 1987. Bayern's form dipped after their 1990 championship win, the club finishing just five points above the relegation places in 1991/92. Success returned when Franz Beckenbauer took over for the 2nd half of the 1993-94 season, winning the Championship again after a 3 year gap. Beckenbauer was then appointed club president, but his successors as coach did not meet expectations. During this time Bayern's players frequently appeared in the gossip pages of the press rather than the sports pages, resulting in the nickname FC Hollywood. Franz Beckenbauer returned as coach, and led his team to victory in the 1996 UEFA Cup, beating Bordeaux in the final.

Opened in 2005: the Allianz Arena, one of the world's most modern football stadiums.
From 1998-2004 Bayern were coached by Ottmar Hitzfeld, who became the most successful Bayern coach of all time. In Hitzfeld's first season, Bayern won the Bundesliga and came agonisingly close to winning the Champions League, losing 2-1 to Manchester United conceding two goals in injury time after leading for most of the match. The 1999-2000 season resulted in Bayern winning their third league and cup double. A third consecutive Bundesliga title followed in 2001, won in a finish on the final day of the league season. Days later, Bayern won the Champions League for the fourth time after a 25 year gap, defeating Valencia CF on penalties. The 2001-02 season finished trophyless for Bayern in the Bundesliga, but they won the Intercontinental Cup for the second time. But a season later Bayern won their fourth double, winning the league title by a record margin. Hitzfeld's reign ended in ignominious fashion in 2004, with Bayern underperforming, including a cup defeat by 2nd division Alemannia Aachen.
Prior to the start of the 2005-06 season, Bayern moved from the Olympic Stadium to the new Allianz Arena, which the club shares with TSV 1860. In summer 2006 TSV 1860 Munich had to sell its party of the Allianz Arena to Bayern Munich due to a financial crisis. Bayern Munich now is the single owner of the Arena but both clubs hope that TSV 1860 Munich will repurchase its parts as soon as possible.

The current Bayern manager is Ottmar Hitzfeld, who returned to Munich in January 2007 after Felix Magath was sacked. In his first term at Bayern between 1998 and 2004 he won 4 Bundesliga titles, two DFB Pokals and the 2000-01 UEFA Champions League.

German Champions: 20
1932, 1968/69, 1971/72, 1972/73, 1973/74, 1979/80, 1980/81, 1984/85, 1985/86, 1986/87, 1988/89, 1989/90, 1993/94, 1996/97, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2000/01, 2002/03, 2004/05, 2005/06

Runners-Up
1969/70, 1970/71, 1987/88, 1990/91, 1992/93, 1995/96, 1997/98, 2003/04

German Cup: 13
1957, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006

Intercontinental Cup: 2
1976, 2001

European Cup / UEFA Champions League: 4
1974, 1975, 1976, 2001,

Runners-Up
1982, 1987, 1999

European Cup Winners Cup: 1
1967

UEFA Cup: 1
1996

KUALA LUMPUR: The UEFA Champions League Trophy arrived yesterday for exhibition in three venues in the country.

The trophy is being exhibited in five Asian destinations ahead of the final in Athens in May. The exhibition of Ol' Big Ears - made possible by Heineken, one of the main sponsors of the League - began in Tokyo on Feb 23 before going to Jakarta and Hong Kong.

Kuala Lumpur is its fourth stop before it heads for Bangkok and then back to Athens in time for the final on May 23.

The trophy was in Ipoh last night. It will be displayed at the Pelangi Golf Driving Range in Johor today from 9pm. Fans in KL will get to see the trophy at the Curve in Mutiara Damansara for two days - from 5pm tomorrow and between noon and 10pm on Sunday.

Among the items on display are Francesco Totti's captain's armband, Ronaldinho's headband, boots signed by Kaka and autographed mementos by one of the all-time greats, Zinedine Zidane.

Guinness Anchor Bhd's (GAB) general manager of marketing Charles Ireland said: "The UEFA Champions League is a premier sporting event that has become a truly global affair - showcasing talents of the world's best players.

"We are honoured to be able to bring our consumers here in Malaysia closer to the intriguing heritage of the UEFA Champions League legacy."

The launch of the arrival of the trophy in Malaysia was held at the KL Hilton. Also present at the launch was the GAB managing director Theo de Rond.

"I really rate the way that he [Luca Toni] plays and believe that this player could do spectacular things with us at Bayern. I'm not going to go into details about any approach, but I do agree that he is a player that we are very interested in", explained the President of the fourth-placed Bundesliga outfit.

Toni's recent brace in Euro 2008 qualifying action and the solid string of starry performances - and gaols - that the player has been churning out this season hasn't gone unnoticed as the German giants look to refurbish a backfiring squad.

Viola president Andrea Della Valle stressed that Fiorentina are still trying to keep the player and will make him an offer within the next few months. "We will discuss things with him at the end of the season and try to do everything in our power to ensure he stays in Florence," Della Valle told the Italian press. http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=269043

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The results of the scan are still awaited, but if the injury is confirmed, Bayern will have been handed a huge blow as they attempt to make the semi-finals of the competition for the first time in six long seasons.

They have an advantage following the 2-2 draw in Milan, though, and will have Oliver Kahn and Mark van Bommel back for the second leg.

Coach Ottmar Hitzfeld, meanwhile, has insisted that Kahn will remain his first-choice goalkeeper despite Rensing's show against Milan yesterday.

"We all know that Kahn is our number one, but I am delighted for Rensing that he fulfilled our expectations," he said. "It is good to know that whenever Kahn is unavailable we have him, and his chance will come soon."
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