It's the dress rehearsal for the start of the season! Before Bayern do battle with RB Leipzig for the first trophy of the season in the DFL-Supercup next weekend (Saturday 12 August, 20:45 CEST), the Munich men face one final test, wrapping up their pre-season preparations against eight-time French champions AS Monaco at the Sportpark Unterhaching on Monday evening (17:00 CEST, tickets still available here). Our preview contains all the important information on the first ever meeting between the two teams.
The state of play for Bayern
Bayern are in the final phase of preparations for the new season. Following a training camp at Tegernsee from 15 to 20 July, Thomas Tuchel's men embarked on the Audi Summer Tour in Tokyo and Singapore from 24 July to 3 August, where the squad continued to work on being in perfect shape for the start of the forthcoming campaign. The trip around Asia included friendlies against Manchester City (1-2), Kawasaki Frontale (1-0) and Liverpool (4-3). Back in Munich, the German record champions completed a session at their Säbener Straße training ground on Saturday and Sunday. Midfielder Joshua Kimmich was rested on Sunday.
What happened on this year's Audi Summer Tour in Tokyo and Singapore:
The opponents: Monaco
After third-place finishes in 2020/21 and 2021/22, Monaco had to settle for sixth spot in the table last season. In Europe, meanwhile, Les Monégasques were knocked out in the UEFA Europa League play-offs by Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Red and Whites appointed former Bundesliga coach Adi Hütter this summer as they look to get back among the European places in Ligue 1. The Austrian's last two jobs were with Eintracht Frankfurt and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Now the 53-year-old, who's also coached in Austria and Switzerland, takes on his first position in France.
New in the dugout for this season: Adi Hütter has coached both Frankfurt and Gladbach in the Bundesliga.
Monaco have strengthened in defence as well as in the dugout, securing the services of centre-back Mohammed Salisu from Southampton and goalkeeper Philipp Köhn from RB Salzburg. The list of summer departures includes 25-year-old France international Axel Disasi, who has left for Chelsea, as well as Brazilian midfielder Jean Lucas, who has returned to Santos in his home country.
Handful of former Bundesliga players
Bavaria-born Kevin Volland moved to the principality from Leverkusen in 2020.
Take a closer look at the current Monaco squad and you'll find no fewer than three former Bundesliga players in 15-time Germany international Kevin Volland, former Gladbach forward Breel Embolo and 1. FC Köln academy product Ismail Jakobs. The face and the captain of the team is Frenchman Wissam Ben Yedder. The 32-year-old striker has been with Les Monégasques since 2019 and is among the leading goalscorers in France's top flight year after year. In fact, with 145 goals in 288 games, the exuberant centre-forward is already in the top 10 all-time goalscorers in Ligue 1.
FC Bayern completed their first training session at Säbener Straße since the Audi Summer Tour on Saturday:
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