Bayern gegen Liverpool
A Tuesday of Champions
I’d been waiting for this day to arrive. The German side that I follow – Bayern München – drew one of the toughest remaining clubs in this season’s Champions League, FC Liverpool, and the first leg was scheduled for today.
Alas, it’s Tuesday, so as much as I wanted to steal away from the office to catch the game at a local pub with other Bayern fans, I did the dutiful thing and stayed close to the workplace.
http://gty.im/1130797164I had to settle for catching the broadcast on my mobile phone. At least part of it since for a time I was away from WiFi.* The 1980 version of me would have been so jealous!**
Back to the game, but first, a little backstory.
The truth is, I actually caught a Liverpool game on the telly at a local pub with San Diego lads who regularly “up the Reds” at the venue. No, I hadn’t switched sides. My nephew, who was visiting from Chicago, was a big-time fan, and emphasized the importance of catching the Sunday morning game during his stay…at 7:30 a.m. San Diego time.
Anyway, I love a good European football match in mid-winter and said I was game. It was an enjoyable experience, especially because I had no skin in the game, and Liverpool registered the win to make my nephew’s day.
Fast forward a couple of months and lo and behold, my nephew’s team and my team were drawn to play each other in the Champions League’s Round of 16.
Ahead of today’s match, we kept things civil, my nephew sharing a Liverpool fan’s graphic of the combined European championship hardware earned between Liverpool and Bayern. I returned a wish of good luck, and we were both ready to see a positive result in the first leg of this titanic tie.
The game ended in a 0:0 decision at Anfield, making the second game at Bayern München’s Allianz Arena next month an achievable stepping stone to the Round of 8 for either team.
My nephew and I will both have our eyes on the prize, and hopefully on the telly and the next round.
*Sure, I have an unlimited data plan, but I don’t want my Internet access throttled back to the stone ages of the 1990s.
**Back in the day, I had to resort to calling “1-900-976-1313” and loadings handfuls of change into the school lobby pay phone to get the latest Dodgers scores in the 1980 NL Playoffs.