Bayern Munich are just one week away from heading to the United States for their summer, preseason Audi tour. On July 15th, the 17-man squad will depart for the States and will make stops in Los Angeles, Houston, and Kansas City, with friendly matches against Arsenal, Real Madrid, and AC Milan, respectively. In addition to the 17 first-team players that will be making the trip, Niko Kovac has said (via FCBayern.com) that he would also like to bring several youth players along to give them some solid exposure:
We’ve got three attractive opponents. We’ll take a number of U19 players with us because the reserves are already playing. I don’t want the players to just be playing, they need to be able to train again the next day
The Squad List (minus the youth players Kovac decides to bring)
Goalkeepers: Manuel Neuer, Sven Ulreich
Defenders: Benjamin Pavard, Joshua Kimmich, David Alaba, Jerome Boateng, Niklas Sule
Midfielders: Leon Goretzka, Thiago, Javi Martinez, Renato Sanches, Corentin Tolisso, Kingsley Coman, Serge Gnabry
Forwards: Robert Lewandowski, Fiete Arp, Thomas Muller
*Lucas Hernandez will not be joining the squad as he’s still working his way back from his knee injury, while Alphonso Davies will rest following his Gold Cup obligations for Canada.
Our squad for the #AudiFCBTour! #ICC2019
— FC Bayern US (@FCBayernUS) July 9, 2019
️ https://t.co/ARA1WsN0qK pic.twitter.com/qF1rEYXMOb
The main goal of the preseason tour, from Kovac’s perspective, is to ensure that all of his players are in top shape come time for Bayern’s first competitive fixture against Energie Cottbus in the DFB-Pokal at the beginning of August. He views the USA trip as a tour “under more difficult conditions.” He wants to have the team train, but also plans to use youth players. “There’s no point in having only games and then regenerating.” Since he wants to use youth players, the results will be of secondary importance. Kovac wants to have “optimal training management” above all on the tour (via tz).
For starters, the squad is far more star-studded than it was last summer, given the fact that a majority of the internationals were recovering from World Cup duty with their respective nations. From a branding and marketing perspective, it will be yet another fantastic opportunity for the club to reach out to some of its fanbase in North America and will, without a doubt, yield great results with a squad full of first-teamers.
*We hope to see some pictures and videos from any of our readers, commenters, and/or followers who go to any of the matches or events in any of the three respective cities on the Audi Tour. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @BavarianFBWorks