Bayern Munich vs Napoli: Lineups, team news, the return of Euro starters, and more! (Updated)

With Bayern Munich still without a win this preseason, it’s looking likely that Nagelsmann will need his starters to take to the field sooner than later. Luckily, a large number of them have returned. Unluckily, they’ve mostly participated in individual sessions so far, so they probably won’t play against Napoli.

Oh well, another chance for the kids.

Team news

So what do we know about the upcoming game? Napoli will play some randos you’ve never heard of, and Bayern will likely field another set of youngsters. In terms of team news, Niklas Sule has still not trained following his back injury from yesterday, while Thomas Muller completed an individual session. Armindo Sieb is, however, back with the main team and could be an option for tomorrow.

Who will play? Well, with Robert Lewandowski only just returning from vacation, Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting will likely lead the line. This is the part where I remind you that the game is at 4:30pm local time, because someone said I should. Joining Choupo will likely be Joshua Zirkzee, who needs as many minutes as he can get to impress prospective buyers on the market. His performances so far have been less than impressive.

Armindo Sieb, Nemanja Motika, Christopher Scott, Malik Tillman, and even Serge Gnabry could potentially start this game, but the actual combination Nagelsmann chooses will be up to him. Arijon Ibrahimovic, Bayern’s super-talented 15-year-old, also participated in training with the team — it might not be out of the question to see an appearance from the youngster when the team changes around the 60 minute mark.

In midfield, Torben Rhein, Taylor Booth, and Michael Cuisance are the major candidates. Two of those three are certain to start — which one actually starts is between Nagelsmann and god. It’s completely pointless to predict preseason lineups so I won’t even try, and you shouldn’t either. Berni himself could take to the pitch and no one would care.

In defense, the French trio of Dayot Upamecano, Tanguy Nianzou, and Buona Sarr may continue their team-building exercise, while Omar Richards joins them at left-back. The French and the English will join forced to defend their German goalkeeper — either Sven Ulreich (who may wear the captain’s armband) or Ron-Thorben Hoffmann.

If the long mess of names didn’t confuse you yet, then a lineup image surely would. So instead, here’s a poll.

Update

Bad news for everyone who doesn’t want to see Cuisance in midfield anymore. Taylor Booth has suffered a groin injury in training and won’t take part in the game tomorrow.

Update #2

Just a quick reminder from Nagelsmann: