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English football must learn the painful lesson there is more to footballing success than merely splashing the cash.

That was the message last night from Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, who has masterminded the blueprint behind the German club's all-conquering dominance of Europe.

Hoeness has been one of the driving forces behind the UEFA fair play rules, which have forced clubs to live within their means and stop spending money they haven't got.

He has also helped introduce a different system of ownership at the Allianz Arena, where fans have an important stake in the club, and prices are pegged to allow ordinary supporters to stay involved.

And this, he confidently asserts, is the real reason behind Bayern's success...because players, staff and fans feel they belong to a footballing family, not a mercenary group chasing piles of money.

"Look, we don't pay our players peas - we pay them well. But I don't think the success is anything to do with finance," he explained.

"The players are treated like families and that's important, they like that. They feel as though they belong to something, and that generates a spirit, a family atmosphere at the club.

"It is important to have a sense of your club, and we feel we have that. I don't know if German football is the best, but we are very strong right now, and we are very happy."

Hoeness is the ultimate pragmatist, and he was reluctant to get involved in a debate over finance in football, despite trying to stem the tide of ever-spiraling transfer fees that Manchester City have done much to instigate.

Incredibly, the team that destroyed the Manchester club cost less than £70m in total...which is far less than the English side spent just last summer.

(Image: Julian Finney)

For the Bayern president though, the secret is not money, but the quality of the coach who builds the team. "People talk about German football dominating - but it's not Germany, it's the football of Dortmund and Bayern Munich," he added.

"They are two teams with super coaches, and that's the key. There is Klopp at Dortmund, and before that at Bayern we had Heynckes and now we have Guardiola.

"We had before a super team. Now we have a super, super team. The difference has been more hard work.

"Pep is working 12 hours a day with the team. That's his secret. The result you saw today. For 80 minutes we played almost perfect football, and I can't remember us having so much possession in the final third against such big opponents."

While Bayern have currently sent out an intimidating message to the rest of European football, their keeper Manuel Neuer offered an even more frightening thought, by insisting after their devastating display, they are a team that will only get better.

"Under Guardiola we are growing. We play with the heart and passion, but we play with precision now too. Our possession against Manchester City was very pleasing," he said.

"We will improve as we learn more from him. Of course, we can better. If we expand some new details in our game. That is how we want it. That is what we will try to do.

"And remember we are still a very young squad. We play more games, we get older. So we get more experience. It may be frightening for others, but we just want to win. That is it."