LONDON, May 24: The home of English football will reverberate to the roar of German voices on Saturday when Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund collide at Wembley Stadium in the first all-Bundesliga final in Champions League history.

And there will be more at stake than Europe’s premier club trophy.

Bayern, four-times European champions, are Germany’s richest and most successful club, while rejuvenated Borussia Dortmund won the trophy in 1997 but came to the brink of financial ruin in 2005.

The Ruhr valley club have recovered on a sporting level under coach Juergen Klopp, challenging Bayern’s dominance in the past two seasons before the Munich club reclaimed the league title last month in record-breaking fashion.

Relations between Germany’s top two teams were always likely to be fraught ahead of their clash, but a power struggle off the pitch has increased the stakes for the biggest prize in European club football.

Dortmund, in particular, are unhappy with Bayern’s transfer dealings as Mario Goetze is switching to the Bavarian side next season and top-scorer Robert Lewandowski is apparently keen to follow suit.

Despite finishing a record 25 points ahead of Dortmund in the Bundesliga, Bayern are keen to cement their status as the country’s undisputed No 1 after suffering the ignominy of watching Dortmund claim back-to-back titles while earning plaudits for their attractive style of play.

“Dortmund really annoyed us for two years. This is a wonderful response,” said Bayern president Uli Hoeness after his side wrapped up the title with a record six games to spare.

Goetze is arguably Germany’s most exciting prospect and Bayern are paying his buy-out clause of 37 million euros ($50 million) for the two-pronged effect of reinforcing an already formidable side while dealing a blow to their main domestic rivals.

Klopp told British newspaper The Guardian that he almost had a heart attack on hearing the news of the 20-year-old’s departure and said that several of his players had trouble sleeping afterwards.

A hamstring injury to Goetze has reduced the risk of diplomatic embarrassment and goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller tried to downplay the significance of his injury by pointing to the 2012 German Cup final, when Dortmund thrashed Bayern 5-2 in his absence.

“It goes without saying that with him we have a different quality,” he said. “But everything shouldn’t rest on him. In the DFB-Pokal final in 2012, Mario also didn’t play.”

Bayern, are desperate to erase memories of painful final defeats in 2010 and, in particular, 2012, when a heart-breaking penalty shoot-out loss to Chelsea was played out before a crowd of horrified and disbelieving fans at their own Allianz Arena.

It was that defeat that has fuelled Bayern’s determination this season and Jupp Heynckes’ team stand before an unprecedented treble for a German club.

“To be able to rise again after such a final defeat last year shows that my players are carved out of special wood,” said Heynckes.

“That is why I am convinced that we will lift the trophy. We have incredible mental strength, we cannot be pushed over.”

For several Bayern players, the final could be the last chance for a major international trophy that has been eluding them with both club and country.

Bayern playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger and captain Philipp Lahm have enjoyed hugely successful footballing careers but, both in their late 20s, they are running out of chances for a big trophy.

France international Franck Ribery and Dutch winger Arjen Robben have also had enough runners-up titles in their careers and are eager to avoid being stuck with a loser tag at the third attempt in four seasons.

“We’ve taken a massive stride towards perfection, and we’re aiming for a perfect performance in the final,” said Schweinsteiger., whose side will tackle Stuttgart in the German Cup final on June 1.

For Dortmund, it is the culmination of a sensational three-year spell. They won the German league in 2011, the league and Cup double in 2012 and now get a shot at the Champions League title.

The achievement of Klopp’s young team, characterised by its counter-punching and offensive style that at times is mesmerising, has even surprised some of his own players.

“If someone had told me before the season that we would be playing in the final, I wouldn’t have believed it,” said midfielder Jakub Blaszczykowski. “For us, the players and the whole club, it is a great event. This is the culmination of our good season in the Champions League.”

Dortmund hope to repeat their shock 1997 success, when a young Lars Ricken, now the club’s youth team co-ordinator, came off the bench to seal a 3-1 win over Juventus at Munich’s Olympiastadion with an audacious 25-yard chip.

Then, as now, the team surrendered back-to-back Bundesliga titles to Bayern and lost their last league game 2-1 at home. In 1997, Stuttgart won the German Cup.

“When everything happens that you couldn’t believe, then it must be a fairytale,” Klopp said.—Agencies