The day before Trent Alexander-Arnold, one of the greatest Liverpool players of modern times, was booed by thousands of the club’s fans at Anfield, greeted with vitriol and treated with contempt, another England defender was given a very different kind of farewell in the Allianz Arena before Bayern Munich‘s match with Borussia Monchengladbach.
Eric Dier has made 47 appearances for Bayern in the 18 months he has been at the club since leaving Spurs. He provided a significant contribution to the team, helping to wrest back the Bundesliga title from Bayer Leverkusen this season, and performed with the kind of understated distinction and unwavering commitment that are his trademarks.
His contract with Bayern is up at the end of the season and he and the club could not agree a new one. So, courted by several others, Dier agreed to sign for Monaco in Ligue 1 and will leave the German champions after their final league game at the weekend. Bayern will not receive a fee for him. That is not always how football works these days.
It did not affect the way Bayern fans viewed him, though. Before the game, the club’s president and its CEO invited Dier on to the pitch to present him with a bouquet of flowers and a large poster of him scoring one of his three goals for the club. He was given a standing ovation by the 75,000 supporters packed into the arena.
They were cheering Dier, of course, but they were also cheering the fact that he represented a symbol of the team’s triumph. If they glorified Dier, they glorified the team. At the opposite end of that spectrum, it is clear some Liverpool players feel the way Alexander-Arnold is being vilified is spoiling their collective achievement.
To offer an opinion on the treatment of Alexander-Arnold at Anfield, a stadium that has a well-earned reputation for the generosity and nobility of its spirit, is to be accused of telling Liverpool supporters how to think about a man who was instrumental in them winning two league titles and the Champions League and is leaving for Real Madrid.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was booed by Livrepool fans after announcing he would be leaving for free – that is how football works sometimes these days
Eric Dier, meanwhile, was honoured and applauded by 75,000 Bayern Munich supporters as he prepares to depart the German club
Supporters should not be begrudged for the way they acted towards Alexander-Arnold – but Bayern’s goodbye to Dier was all class
No one should begrudge supporters the right to make a great player’s farewell ugly, sad, poisonous and regrettable, to end a symphony by splitting a Stradivarius in half with an axe. Each to their own. Equally, the way Bayern and their supporters handled the departure of Dier was all class.
Those of us who had gone to see Harry Kane lift his first trophy on Saturday got something else as well. We saw an ordinary match preceded and followed by a wonderful and uplifting spectacle, as the club said goodbye to Dier and to Thomas Muller, a club legend who is being released at the end of the season.
Kane got most of the attention from the few of us who had travelled out there but it also felt like a privilege to speak to Dier at a moment that meant so much to him.
Dier has always stood out for being smart and thoughtful and now he spoke of the joy he felt and the pride he took in being a part of Bayern, one of the great institutions of German life.
‘It feels good,’ he said of his first title triumph. ‘It feels better than anyone has ever described.
‘It’s not a finish line. It’s not a finish line of anything. I think there’s many aspects to it. Obviously being in an environment where you learn how to do it, learn what it takes to do it, is important.
‘And then obviously there’s an aspect of relief that you’ve finally done it. There’s a huge weight off my shoulders in that sense. It’s not about me or any individual. It’s a huge collective effort.
‘I think the one thing I’ve learned about it is that the journey is the most enjoyable part. There are so many moments during the season. And those moments all together, they’re the special ones. It’s about going on this journey with a group of people, having ups and downs along the way, and achieving something.
Dier was presented with a bouquet of flowers and a large poster of him scoring one of his three goals for the club
Bayern fans also said goodbye to Thomas Muller (centre) as he prepares to leave on a free
Muller received a guard of honour and there were banners reading his name inside the ground
‘This was Thomas’ day so the presentation was a bit awkward for me,’ Dier said – before hailing Bayern as ‘incredible’
‘This was Thomas’ day so the presentation was a bit awkward for me but the club, they’re incredible with the way they treat us in all of these moments. The way they acknowledge the players in every moment like this.
‘I’ve seen it so many times where the club prove why they are who they are with the way they carry themselves.’
The goodbye to Muller, who has played 750 times for his boyhood club and holds Bayern’s appearance record, was on a different level to anything I’ve ever seen before at a football match. He was given a guard of honour when he was substituted a few minutes from the end and there were huge banners of tribute to him in the crowd.
After the final whistle, he climbed into the crowd, took a microphone and addressed the fans who have worshipped him for so long. He held court for some time and when he returned to the pitch, he chose, pointedly, to finish his valedictory address with a joke about death that felt like it was a commentary on the nuances of a footballer’s farewell.
‘A father is dying at home,’ Muller began. ‘The three children are standing at his bedside. Suddenly, the smell of his favourite cake wafts from the kitchen, where the mother is baking it.
‘Then the father says, “Son, please bring me one last piece of my favourite cake. That would be my last wish”. The son goes away but then he comes back from the kitchen without the cake.
‘The father says, “What’s going on? Where is the cake?” The son says, “Mum said it’s for after the funeral”.’
He would later make a joke about death as he took to the microphone after the full-time whistle
Jannik Sinner, who has served a doping ban, has seen his return celebrated – dopers are now treated as avenging heroes
Acclaim for tennis dopers just not right
When Jannik Sinner returned from his drugs ban to play in the Italian Open in Rome last week, he said he got the best reception he had ever seen. His rival, Carlos Alcaraz, said his return was ‘great’ for tennis.
At the same time, anyone arriving at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 is greeted with huge moving pictures of Iga Swiatek, who served a paltry one-month drugs ban recently, in a glitzy sponsorship advertisement.
Tennis, like boxing, is showing more and more signs of having rolled over in the fight against doping. Dopers are not reviled any more. They are treated as avenging heroes.