The wheat beer showers are all about pure emotion - the feeling of triumph after a successful mission. It's about the happiness of having achieved something great and about celebrating the Bayern gene in the soccer world. It's the cheerful side of "Mia san Mia". And, of course, it's also about the race to be the first to surprise the new coach with a wheat beer shower.
Legends such as Mehmet Scholl, Michael Ballack, Lothar Matthäus and Bastian Schweinsteiger have done it. Oliver Kahn, Manuel Neuer and many others too: they all showered their coach. No coach escaped the Bayern stars - whether Felix Magath, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Jupp Heynckes, Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti or Hansi Flick. Epic running duels ensued. Sometimes unequal, but always full of energy and passion.
The most successful video of all time
And the fans at home? They love it! A compilation of the wheat beer showers is the most-watched FC Bayern Munich video of all time.
The media are already puzzling in the run-up to the game: Who showers whom? How often does the coach get caught? Can anyone escape? Even the "Tagesschau" devoted an epic-length report to this special ritual: when Louis van Gaal and Arjen Robben became part of this tradition, the Dutch wrote a piece of German television history. And the wheat beer shower didn't even stop at the TV studios: Uli Hoeneß asking Mehmet Scholl live on TV to be spared a shower is great cinema.
A toast for eternity
No other tradition shows the exuberant joy of the players as impressively and authentically as the wheat beer shower. Even after the fifth, eighth or thirteenth championship in a row, the players and coaches eagerly await this moment.
But despite all the joy, it's all about one thing above all: when the wheat beer showers fall silent, the players clink glasses with their fans. Together they celebrate another milestone in the glorious history of Germany's most successful soccer club. The fans toast back - and enjoy the moment of triumph with a Paulaner in their hands. Ahhh...