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For the fifth year in a row, Bayern Munich will travel to Qatar as part of their Winterpause, the club announced today. They will once again be training at the ASPIRE Academy for Sports Excellence in Doha as the club's global outreach initiative continues.
Their trip will involve a friendly against a Qatari team, as well as a friendly in Riad, Saudi Arabia on their way back to Germany. The names of both clubs have were not mentioned. Bayern have played already played six friendlies in the middle east as part of their winter break, including ones against Al Merreikh and Al Kuwait in January of this year.
These trips have not only been ones to keep players in form, but also for youth players to impress Pep Guardiola in a first-team environment. Bayern took six reserve players a year ago, four of whom – Julian Green, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Lukas Raeder, and Alessandro Schöpf – have played first team football this season.
The team's Qatar stay will just be eight days, from January 9-17. The team will also play VfL Bochum on January 23 before the Rückrunde kicks off against VfL Wolfsburg on January 30.