Despite a narrow 1-0 defeat against Manchester City in a friendly on a US promotional tour, Bayern Munich is talking about maximum success this year.
“Our current situation reminds me of the 2012-13 season as we somehow felt near unbeatable,” striker Thomas Muller stated after City’s new arrival Erling Haaland scored the winning goal in a chaotic game, interrupted for over an hour by thunderstorms.
Club chairman Oliver Kahn spoke about the “hardest season ever” due to the 2022 FIFA World Cup being played in November and December interrupting the campaign for over four weeks.
Kahn spoke of a situation of the highest possible competition within the squad that couldn’t be better. The former German national keeper said the highest level of motivation for every single squad member has developed.
Nine years after Bayern last claimed the UEFA Champions League title, the Bavarian side again has to deal with significant changes after Robert Lewandowski left for Barca, with Sadio Mane and Matthijs de Ligt coming in.
Muller is expecting “us possibly scoring fewer goals, but that doesn’t mean we will be less successful.”
The Bavarian icon called Bayern’s excessive shopping tour a “transfer summer with an exclamation mark.”
The 32-year-old German international called the signings of Mane, De Ligt, Ryan Gravenberch and Noussair Mazraoui a statement for “inside and outside.”
While the squad is expected to return to Munich this Sunday, the club announced an additional transfer.
17-year-old French striker Mathys Tel is on his way from Stade Rennes in a deal said to be worth up to 28.5 million euros.
In Muller’s perspective, the club’s actions come along with an obligation for its players to achieve maximum success. “There is no left or right, it’s only one direction things have to go,” Muller said.
Including the Tel deal, Bayern has spent 148 million euros this summer.
Muller said that he is not only expecting his club to win its 11th consecutive Bundesliga title, but also leave a mark on the continental stage.
The striker is optimistic that Mane and De Ligt are going to improve the team. “Things can lead to a well-oiled game, but we have to wait for final statements on that.”
Kahn is convinced the fresh blood brought in by the club will pay off “as we already see every player wanting to prove to the coach that he has to pick him for the starting 11.”
Bayern is to cross swords with RB Leipzig in the German Super Cup final on July 30, followed by the German Cup first round match against third-tier side Viktoria Cologne, and the Bundesliga opener against Frankfurt on August 5.
