FC Bayern have a dress rehearsal for the Champions League on Friday as they take on French top-flight side Olympique Marseille in the Audi Football Summit. It’s the only friendly for Hansi Flick’s men before things get serious again with the return leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie against Chelsea. fcbayern.com has collated the facts you should know on the match and the opposition.
Runners-up in France
Marseille finished the last Ligue 1 campaign, which ended early because of the coronavirus pandemic, in second place behind champions Paris Saint-Germain. The club from the harbour city in southern France thus qualified for the Champions League for the first time since the 2013/14 season. OM begin their next quest for a league title in late August – four weeks before the Bundesliga kicks off.
OM acclimatised in Bavaria
The French club’s pre-season preparations are therefore already in full swing, and they’ve been spending some of it in Bavaria. André Villas-Boas’ side visited Grassau at the end of July, playing three friendlies during their stay. They included a 6-1 win over regional league outfit SV Heimstetten from the Munich suburbs, so OM are fully acclimatised going into the meeting with Bayern.
Two encounters in Champions League
FC Bayern came up against the nine-time Ligue 1 champions in the quarter-finals of Europe’s premier club competition during the 2011/12 campaign, the team from Munich winning 2-0 in both the first leg (goals from Mario Gómez and Arjen Robben) and second leg (brace from Ivica Olić). It’s FCB’s only competitive meeting to date with the club who remain the only French team to win the Champions League after success in 1993.
Meeting of world champions
Steve Mandanda and Florian Thauvin on one side – Lucas Hernández, Corentin Tolisso and Benjamin Pavard on the other. Five reigning World Cup winners could feature in Friday’s friendly between Marseille and Bayern. The quintet were part of the France squad that lifted the trophy in Russia two years ago, although there’s a question mark over Pavard’s involvement, as the Bayern right-back is currently sidelined with a foot ligament injury he sustained on Sunday.
Royal history part 1
Two great names unite Bayern and Marseille: ‘The Kaiser’ Franz Beckenbauer joined OM after guiding Germany to World Cup glory in the summer of 1990, serving first as head coach and then as technical director. In that season of 1990/91, the Frenchmen reached the final of the European Cup, where they lost 5-3 on penalties to Red Star Belgrade. Marseille were also French champions during Beckenbauer’s reign.
Royal history part 2
Franck Ribéry moved in the opposite direction in 2007, leaving Marseille for Munich to become the new ‘king’ of Bayern. Having scored 18 goals in 89 competitive appearances for OM, Ribéry achieved legend status with the German record champions, racking up 124 goals in 425 games in all competitions.
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