Bayern's objective at Club World Cup: 'Want to challenge for the title'

Mission Club World Cup has lift-off! FC Bayern have been at their base camp for the tournament in Orlando since Tuesday, initially with a first part of the squad. The internationals who have been in action for their countries recently will join up over the next few days. Wednesday saw the first training session on site, and afterwards captain Manuel Neuer and Thomas Müller spoke to journalists about their expectations of the tournament.

Müller: ‘The spirit is laid down’

“We're basically going into the tournament to win matches – and that starts with the first match, of course,” stated Müller. “The spirit is laid down, the coach has also left no questions there. He's made it clear: we want to win the thing.”

Meanwhile, the fact it’s his last outing in an FC Bayern shirt is not causing Müller great sadness. “I’m just happy to be here,” said the Bavaria native. “Obviously the nicest thing for me is being on the football pitch.”

Neuer: ‘It’s special to be here’

Müller’s long-time team-mate Neuer is also excited about the Club World Cup. “It’s special to be here,” said the goalkeeper. “We're going into the tournament to play successful football. And accordingly, we obviously want to challenge for the title too. I think in a few years we’ll see what significance this tournament format has.”

The Bavarians face unfamiliar opponents in their first match with Auckland City FC on Sunday (12:00 local time in Cincinnati). “Our analysis team will prepare us,” said Neuer, looking ahead to the opening encounter. “We’ll look in detail at what our opponents did in the previous season and how they played, so the preparation will be like it is with any competitive match, maybe a bit longer because we don’t know the team that well. It’s always very important to win the first match at these tournaments. We want to get off to a good start."

Every game at the FIFA Club World Cup will be broadcast live and for free by streaming service DAZN. More info.

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