Bayern Munich won the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League, after one of the most spectacular, surprising and uncommon seasons.

The season started without 2004 champions FC Porto, for the first time since 2010, and also without Manchester United. And then past season's semifinalists Ajax Amsterdam failed to reach the knock-out stage.

But there were Olympique Lyon and RB Leipzig, who made it to the semifinals, after being drawn in the same group. And they did that although were seeded third and fourth, respectively. Manchester City, Juventus, Atletico Madrid and Tottenham were the teams eliminated by the two in the knock-out stages.

Then again, we had thrillers on Anfield vs Atletico Madrid, at Barcelona vs Bayern Munich, and finally Atalanta being another big surprise and so close to the semifinals, but denied by Paris Saint-Germain. Chelsea and Real Madrid also crashed early, so the competition rose up to its spectacular expectations.

But one team stood champions over all. And that was Bayern Munich. They exceeded. They were the first team to win all their Champions League matches, and set a new record for goal difference: +35 in just 11 matches!

Also, Bayern is the second team to win a second European treble (domestic league, domestic cup, and the European Cup). Barcelona did it first. According to the Champions League odds, Bayern is also the main favorite at winning the next season, with +400 at Unibet. Manchester City (+500), Paris Saint-Germain (+600) and Liverpool (+700) are the next contenders, while Real Madrid (+900), Juventus, FC Barcelona (+1400 each) and Chelsea (+1700) complete the top 8.

And the German champions did all that with the help of some fantastic players. Robert Lewandowski was the season's top scorer, and the was helped by the likes of Corentin Tolisso, Alphons Davies, Joshua Kimmich, Serge Gnabry, Thomas Muller, Thiago Alcantara, David Alaba, and Leon Goretzka, among others.

But three men played the decisive role in the 1-0 win in the final against Paris Saint-Germain. These are the captain Manuel Neuer, the goalscorer Kingsley Coman, and the coach Hans-Dieter Flick.

Here are some of their stories:

Manuel Neuer
Bayern's and Germany's captain was one of the best players on the field in the final. He became the second goalkeeper to win both Champions League and World Cup, and the third goalkeeper who lifted the UCL trophy as a captain.

He played for Schalke 04 for 20 years, from 5 years old. A story few people know is that, when he started the junior groups at Schalke, he used to cry when receiving a goal. Then, he was allowed to bring his teddy bear at the games, to gain trust.

Kingsley Coman
Coman was named the man of the match in the final against PSG, after scoring the only goal. It was his 20thtitle overall, at only 24 years old.

He started football at PSG, in 2004, brought by his father who was a big fan of the team. In 2013, he became the youngest player to play for PSG, at 16 years and 8 months. He played only four matches in two years, but still managed to win four trophies at PSG.

After moving to Juventus, Coman won another four trophies in two years, playing 22 games. He was 19 when arrived at Munich, where he became one of the main players – 161 games, 33 goals, and 12 trophies. But the most important – he scored the winning goal against his father's team where he learned football.

Hans-Dieter Flick
Bayern's manager went to play with Kingsley Coman instead of Ivan Perisic, and the French did it, scoring the only goal of the match.

But that was just a small part of a fantastic first season for Flick. He won 33 out of the 36 games he managed at Bayern. A former assistant to Joachim Low at the Germany national football team between 2006-2014, and then briefly to Niko Kovac at Bayern in 2019, Flick is the fourth German coach to win the UCL title, and also the fourth older.

Before winning the treble this year, he contributed to Germany's success at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and then took over from Kovac in 2019.

But few know that he even played for Bayern in a European Cup final – the 1987 one lost to FC Porto. Flick played the entire game, along with great German midfields Lothar Matthaus and Andreas Brehme, under the great manager Udo Lattek. Later, he was coached at Bayern by the other manager who won the treble with the team, Jupp Heynckes.