FC Bayern arrived safely in Berlin on Thursday ready for Saturday's cup final against Borussia Dortmund. The Lufthansa charter jet landed in the German capital at a quarter past six in the evening. “We're fired up,” said captain Philipp Lahm a few hours before the flight from Munich: “We want to make sure the coaching staff and everybody who’s leaving at the end of the season have a beautiful farewell match. We can turn a good season into a very good one.”
A 22-strong squad including three goalkeepers checked in to the team hotel in Berlin. Xabi Alonso (ribs) and Javi Martínez (ankle) are part of the squad despite minor knocks. Long-term absentees Arjen Robben and Holger Badstuber did not board the plane, but will be at the Olympic Stadium to watch the DFB Cup final.
Lahm: 'We have to improve'
“We didn't really shine in the last few league matches. We know we have to improve if we want to come back to Munich with the cup,” Lahm cautioned before departing, “but we've played well in all the important matches recently. That's why we're confident.”
The Reds have some time to prepare before crossing swords with Borussia on Saturday evening at 20.00 CET. The squad will complete a closed final training session (15 minutes of live coverage on the FC Bayern Facebook channel) at Berlin Olympic Stadium on Friday afternoon. Subsequently the two head coaches Pep Guardiola and Thomas Tuchel, and players Marcel Schmelzer and Jérôme Boateng will address the pre-match press conference. Stay tuned to fcbayern.de, FCB.tv and our social media channels to make sure you don't miss anything!
