Arturo Vidal responded with the broadest of smiles when the large contingent of Bayern fans at Soldier Field chanted his name. The Chile superstar is delighted to be back with his club following a well-deserved vacation – and his confidence is soaring too in the wake of his country’s Copa América triumph. “We celebrated long and hard because it was a crucial victory for us. But we’ve had our holidays and the party’s over now. We want to get back to the hard work with Bayern!” the player declared.
Those were no empty words, as the midfielder convincingly demonstrated on Wednesday. While the rest of the team worked up a sweat in the fitness room at the team hotel prior to the Audi Football Summit against AC Milan, Vidal worked out in the blistering heat at Soldier Field. “I’ll use the time in the USA to prepare myself to the full,” commented Vidal. It remains to be seen whether he will feature in any of the three friendlies on the tour, as he only has one team training session under his belt so far, but his primary goal is to recover his form as quickly as possible.
Praise for FCB youngsters
Vidal has nothing but respect for FCB’s first opponents on the Audi Summer Tour. “I know them very well,” said the Chilean, who spent four seasons in Italy with Juventus before joining Bayern. “AC Milan are always very complicated opponents. They’re extremely well organised and tactically very well set up.” Naturally, not too many conclusions can be drawn from the non-competitive contests on the tour. “It’s the first few games and it’s always a bit tougher at the start.” The main purpose of the matches in the USA, the midfield enforcer said, “is to prepare as well as possible for the Bundesliga.”
The absence of many of the club’s internationals does not trouble Vidal. “They need the rest and relaxation,” he said. Against that the Chile star was full of praise for the squad that has travelled to the States, and especially the talented youths from the club’s junior team: “The players we have with us are very good. They’re perfectly prepared and I hope the three matches prove that.”
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