Bayern Beats Other-SpVgg in Friendly, 1-0

Not really a match that can tell us a whole lot, but Bayern took today's friendly over SpVgg Unterhaching through a goal by David Alaba. Bayern's goal came from a free kick, and the victory was pretty deserved, from what I can gather. Bayern held out some of the biggest stars, but several big-name guys contributed, including Alaba, van Buyten, Gustavo, and Shaqiri.

I say "from what I can gather" because this one wasn't carried live, at least not in the USA. All I can tell is what I've read and seen after the fact. A few things to note right off the bat:

- first, this is a DIFFERENT SpVgg than the SpVgg that just got promoted, and that is also in Bavaria? Are you fucking kidding me? Fine.

- second, most accounts I've read have Shaqiri playing well. He drew a few fouls and apparently looks very quick and was causing trouble in the midfield. Obviously, this isn't a full-speed test, but we can cautiously say he isn't going to be a disappointment

- third, Bayern wore the new white-and-orange kits (I know they're supposedly "Neon Red," but I guarantee you, 15 years from now, everyone is going to remember this as "the year we wore those orange kits"). Surprisingly, they look OK in action:

Anyway, a very low-stress and slow-paced match, but Bayern appears to have had the better of it (despite not lighting up the scoreboard). Perhaps the best account I've read can be seen here, but if anyone has more details to offer, please fill us in. Meanwhile, the club has announced that they're taking a pre-season trip to China in a few weeks. They'll play a pair of games over 5 days, then return right before the start of the Liga Total! Cup. We'll have more on that later this week.