During the Audi Summer Tour USA 2019 (15 to 24 July), Bayern will be a long way from home but will still see familiar faces again. As in the previous year, the German record champions are travelling to the land of limitless opportunities under the motto of 'Visiting friends' and are looking forward to meeting up with lots of enthusiastic supporters. "We have a lot of fans worldwide and particularly in America," said Niko Kovac in advance of the trip.
For that reason, the coach together with 26 players, consisting of pros and youngsters, will head off to Los Angeles early on Monday morning. Only new signing Lucas Hernández will miss the tour due to his knee operation and instead work on an individual rehab programme in Munich. Alphonso Davies, who is still on holiday after taking part in the CONCACAF Gold Cup with Canada, will fly out on Tuesday to join the team in LA.
At noon local time, FCB are expected to make their first stop on the tour on Monday before moving on to Houston on 19 July. FC Bayern will finish off in Kansas City from 22 July before flying back into Munich on 24 July. "It will definitely be an exciting trip," predicted Thomas Müller. In addition to numerous interesting events, FCB have three matches against top international teams.
Kovac also has positive expectations of the games against Arsenal (17 July, Los Angeles), Real Madrid (20 July, Houston) and AC Milan (23 July, Kansas City) in the International Champions Cup: "We can again look forward to playing three very prestigious opponents. It would be a good experience for our pros and, of course, also for our young players," declared the Bayern coach.
These matches will be important indicators for Kovac in the pre-season. "We want to use these three fixtures to practice certain approaches to our game so that we will be able to see that in the Bundesliga too," explained the 47-year-old. That is also to be reinforced in daily training sessions. "We have to train well to be prepared for the new season."
Some of these sessions will be open to the public and therefore a perfect opportunity to come into contact with the local fans. Once again this year the FC Bayern motto is, "at home in Munich, dahoam in the world," as chairman of the board Karl-Heinz Rummenigge explained.