Volkswagens are the only cars in the world proven to go faster than 280 miles per hour. It could be due to the ingenuity of Germany engineering, but it is largely because of Ehra-Lessien, a cold war era testing ground near the East German border and its high-speed circuit with a 5.4 mile straightaway.

Like that almost mythical and completely inaccessible track, Bayern Munich seems to be playing on an entirely different pitch than the rest of Europe in the same way this season, widening the gap in Pep Guardiola’s first season as manager. As the German economy has been rising again over Europe, Bayern's strength has seemed to increase in turn.

The goal for Guardiola isn't to win Bayern their first Champions League title since 2001- Jupp Heynckes took care of that last season. Nor is it to reclaim the Bundesliga for the first time since 2010- Heynckes retired with that in hand as well. The goal for Guardiola is to lead Bayern to the type of dynasty they achieved with their Champions League threepeat in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller, David Alaba and Toni Kroos are homegrown players from Bayern’s youth academy, and the captain (Lahm) and vice-captain (Schweinsteiger) have been particularly critical to come out of the Jürgen Klinsmann disaster into the current era. This is not quite a golden generation like we’ve witnessed from La Masia to Barcelona, but it advanced the starting point in what was needed on the transfer market.

Guardiola’s first transfer was Mario Götze, who had already been described by Franz Becekenbauer as “the Lionel Messi of Germany,” for €37 million from Borussia Dortmund. The move allowed Guardiola to begin making Bayern in his own image, while simultaneously weakening Dortmund, who took the Budesliga in 2011 and 2012. The follow-up signing of Robert Lewandowski this past January will further deplete Dortmund while strengthen Bayern at striker when he arrives n the summer.

Thiago Alcântara came over from Barcelona for a €25 million transfer fee a few weeks after Götze last July. Alcântara has been tremendous in the Bundesliga, rating second behind Franck Ribéry.

The additions of Götze and Alcântara weren’t about sustaining in 13-14 as much as they were about getting younger and more Guardiola-esque.

Javi Martinez was the incumbent Spaniard on Bayern predating Guardiola, arriving on a €40 million transfer in 2012 from Athletic Bilbao, but Alcântara is the direct link to Barcelona.

“He wants to control the game with Bayern, the same as in Barcelona,” said Alcântara of Guardiola. “He has a definite idea of what his football should look like. One of Guardiola's objectives is creating superiority in numbers. Always having two players against one opponent is what the team strives for.”

The challenge with Bayern is certainly a different one for Guardiola, but it is also less restrictive in many ways. There is a dogma to Barcelona football that always lingers, even more for a boyhood disciple like Guardiola. Elements of tiki-taka can be applied with Bayern, who already were owning possession under Heynckes, and they have moved ahead of Barcelona in that category this season in the Champions League.

For this iteration of Bayern, the ability to play possession as well as Barcelona, while imposing themselves physically is undoubtedly a huge part of their success, but the play of Ribéry and Arjen Robben on the wings is what makes them exceptional. Both are 30 and arrived in Munich in 2007 and 2009 respectively for €25 million and €24 million. To assemble their wingers, Real Madrid paid €94 million for Ronaldo in 2009 and €91 million for Gareth Bale in 2013, the two highest transfers in soccer history.

Following up his game-winner against Dortmund at Wembley, Robben has been outstanding in the Champions League again this season, ranking third behind Lionel Messi and Ronaldo in the WhoScored rating. Ribéry has eight goals and eight assists in 16 Bundesliga appearances, while being named Man of the Match in seven. Ribéry leads the Champions League in key passes per game with 3.5. 

Julian Draxler nearly went to Arsenal in January, but Bayern now appears to be an option and he could become a worthy successor to Ribéry at left wing, while Müller and Xherdan Shaqiri are already in place as well. Assuming Ribéry and Robben have another two seasons in them at this level, keeping young players of that talent on ice in the meantime is its own difficulty.

By a comfortable margin, Bayern is the club nobody wants to play until Lisbon and it isn’t hyperbole to suggest the hope is that someone else will have upset them before then. Bayern has reached the UCL Final in each of the past two seasons and three of the past four, with their losses coming to Inter in 2010 and Chelsea in 2012. Manchester United went to the Final three times in four seasons between 2008 and 2011, also losing twice and they’ve since fallen off dramatically in European (and now EPL) play. United’s run in that stretch is now merely a footnote and only a repeat for Bayern, which hasn’t been accomplished by any club since AC Milan in 1989 and 1990, will make Guardiola’s first season a success.

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