For a team with such a strong tradition and legacy with the Champions League, Bayern Munich was actually a very late starter. It made up for it though. Its first match in the competition wasn't until 1969. It defeated Saint-Étienne 2-0 at home before losing 3-0 in the return leg.
It returned to the competition in 1972-73. It faced the Turkish Galatasaray in the opening round and after a 1-1 draw in Turkey thrashed them 6-0 in Munich. This great form continued in the second round where Munich demolished the Cypriot Omonia 13-0 over two legs. In the quarter-finals, Bayern met an Ajax side who were on its way to three straight titles. Ajax put on a clinic winning the opening leg in Amsterdam 4-0 before losing 2-1 in the return match. Despite the loss, Bayern watched and learned a lot.
The following year, Bayern opened its European Cup campaign against the Swedish Åtvidabergs. Bayren required penalties to get by after the sides traded 3-1 victories. Bayern continued to do it tough and in the second round had its hands filled with Dynamo Dresden. Bayern won the opening match 4-3 in Munich and the game in Dresden was 3-3 to give Bayern a tight 7-6 win. Things were easier in the quarter-finals where Bayern cruised past CKSA Sofia 5-3 and this continued in the semi-finals with a 4-1 over the Hungarian Újpesti Dózsa.
The final was to be played against Athletico Madrid at Brussel's Heysel Stadium. In Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Uli Hoeness and Gerd Muller, Bayern had an incredibly strong side. 0-0 after 90 minutes, it went to extra time. Luis Aragones scored for Athletico in the 114th minutes only for Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck to equalize in the last minute with a spectacular long range shot.
This clearly deflated the Spaniards and in the replay two days later, Bayern ran over the top of them. Hoeness and Muller each scored two goals to give Bayern a 4-0 win and become the first German side to win the trophy.
Bayern began the defence of its title with a second round win over East German Magdeburg. It followed this with a win over the Soviet Ararat Yerevan. It met up with Saint-Étienne in the semi-final and defeated them 2-0 before going on to meet Leeds United in the final in Paris. Bayern were full of confidence - not only did it have most of the side which won the trophy the year before, but many of the team had won the World Cup with Germany. It was a game marred with controversy but Bayern won the decisive moments when they counted and two second half goals gave it back to back titles.
Bayern began its quest for three in a row with a win over the Swedish Malmo. It hammered Benfica in the quarter-finals before getting the better of Real Madrid in the semi-finals. The final was against old French foes Saint-Étienne at Glasgow. The French dominated much of the game but simply couldn't score. A lone goal from Franz Roth gave Bayern the trophy.
Its attempt to make it four in a row came unstuck in the quarter-finals when Dynamo Kiev defeated it 2-1 on aggregate. The Bayern era was finally over.
It returned for the 1980-81 European Cup. A first round win over Olympiacos was followed by a thrashing of Ajax in the second round. Bayern met Liverpool in the semi-final and after a scoreless first leg in Liverpool drew 1-1 in Munich. The away goal gave Liverpool the win.
The following year Bayern made it all the way to the final. Many of the old guard had retired but players such as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Klaus Augenthaler and Dieter Hoeness were there. The final was against Aston Villa in Rotterdam. Aston Villa hit the lead in the 67th minute thanks to Peter Withe and held on for the win.
The 1980s weren't the same period of domination as once were. In 1986 it was knocked out by Anderlecht, It had its revenge the next year against Andelecht defeating them 7-2 in the quarter-final. It would defeat Real Madrid in the semi-final but lost to Porto in the final for a goal best remembered by Rabah Madjer's backheel.
It had never really faced Italian opposition before and this changed in the 1990 semi finals. The tie went into extra time after it was all level but a late Milan goal sent the Italians through to the final.
The following year it would be back in the semi finals. On the way it extracted some revenge at the expense of Porto but came stuck thereafter by Red Star Belgrade.
It had trouble getting over the semi-final hump four years later when Ajax defeated it on its way to the trophy. If it could take some solace from this it was that it was at least being defeated by the ultimate champion.
Four years later things seemed to be going its way. It thumped Kaiserlautern in the quarter-finals and then avoided Real Madrid in the semi-finals when Dynamo Kiev defeated it. It played Manchester United in the final.The rest is history. Bayern lost to Manchester United in probabbly the most famous of all finals in 1999 in Barcelona.
The year after it was eager to put the pain behind it and again had troubles at the semi-final stage. Real Madrid knocked it out yet again.
The following year all the cards fill in the right place. It knocked out Manchester United in the quarter-finals including a win at Old Trafford. It followed this up with a win over nemesis Real Madrid where it won in Madrid. The final against Valencia was in Milan. Valencia had lost the final the previous year and were more experienced for it. Both sides scored a penalty and the game would ultimately decided by them. All level after five, it went to sudden death and Mauricio Pellegrino missed to hand the Germans its fourth title.
Its title defence was snuffed out by Real Madrid in the quarter finals and the following year it finished last in its group. It could only manage two points from six matches. It hasn't been back to the semi finals since 2001.