Bayern Munich 1-2 Manchester City: Initial reactions and observations

Initial reactions and observations

• Thomas Tuchel once again shows his contempt for youngsters by refusing to put Mathys Tel in the starting XI today. It probably cost Bayern Munich the game, since the first half was crying out for a striker who could actually get on the end of some of the half chances created by Musiala and the wingers. Tel, meanwhile, shows what he’s capable of — he had no business scoring given the kind of support he had.
• Positives: The press, it looks better now. Some defined team structure is present when Bayern loses the ball.
• Negatives: Defensive lapses and set pieces. Same old, really.
• Konrad Laimer is really quite good at quickly cycling the ball forward after regaining possession. An impressive attribute that threatened to catch City out numerous times.
• Many of the “B-team” XI stood out today. Sven Ulreich, Bouna Sarr, and youngster Frans Kratzig all did rather well.

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Interested in a more in-depth review of the game? What worked and what didn’t? Did Bayern deserve to lose to Man City? We discuss all that and more in our postgame podcast! Listen to it below or on Spotify.

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Full time: Bayern Munich 1-2 Man City.

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86’ — Goal. Laporte makes it 2-1.

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81’ — GOOOOOOOOOOAL! Tel makes it 1-1!

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45’ — The second half is underway! Unfortunately, Haaland is now on the pitch.

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Halftime: Bayern Munich 0-1 Manchester City.

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21’ — Goal. McAtee makes it 1-0.

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19’ — Sane’s free kick hits the crossbar! So close!

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Kickoff: We’re underway!

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One hour until kickoff: We have lineups! Unfortunately, Thomas Tuchel has chosen not to start Mathys Tel for this one. Bayern Munich have Serge Gnabry, Leroy Sane, Jamal Musiala, and Kingsley Coman starting up top, with Kimmich and Laimer in midfield. Yann Sommer, linked with a move to Inter Milan, starts in goal.

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Bayern Munich are in Japan right now and the summer’s first proper preseason game is upon us! Manchester City were the team that knocked Thomas Tuchel out of the Champions League last season, and the team didn’t really show what they were capable of in those games. Now it’s a chance for the coach to make some amends.

Of course, a preseason game is nothing compared to an actual competitive fixture, but like Joshua Kimmich said, this is an amazing opportunity to see how the team will measure up against one of the best sides in world football. Of course, in the event that things go poorly ... the lead image on this article could turn out to be prophetic.

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While you’re waiting for the game, why not check out our podcast? We do a deep dive on the 27-0 win over Rottach-Egern, plus a preview of what we could see versus City. Listen to it below or on Spotify.

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Match Info

Location: Japan National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan

Time: 6:30 am EST

TV/streaming: Find Your Country

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