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A top-quality friendly at the Allianz Arena! FC Bayern host Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur in the Telekom Cup in front of their own fans on Thursday (kick-off 18:30 CEST). After winning 2-1 in the opening friendly against Olympique Lyon, head coach Vincent Kompany’s men are looking to continue their progress ahead of the first competitive match on 16 August.
With an FC Bayern TV PLUS subscription, you can watch the clash against Tottenham live on fcbayern.com and in the FC Bayern app. The game is also being shown for free by MAGENTA SPORT in Germany.
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Bayern didn’t show any signs of rust in their first friendly against Lyon after just three training sessions together. “You could tell that we didn't start from scratch, but that we had a certain balance already,” analysed Joshua Kimmich after the 2-1 victory over the French top-flight club on Saturday. Now it’s a case of building on this convincing display against Tottenham, even though there obviously haven’t been that many more training sessions in the five days in between.
“We simply have to utilise the time very well,” said sporting director Christoph Freund. The mood in the team after the short holiday is very good, according to the Austrian, who added: “From a mental point of view, the short pre-season can also be an advantage, and physically it shouldn't be a problem either.” There’s a little over a week left to lay the foundations for a successful season before the first competitive fixture against VfB Stuttgart in the Franz Beckenbauer Supercup on 16 August. The German champions can prove how far they are again on Thursday evening against Spurs. In any case, Kompany is certain that his team will do everything during the short preparation period to be fully ready for the start of the campaign: “We’re up for it. We don't have much time but we want to be physically ready for the first games.”
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The opponents: Tottenham Hotspur
Ahead of the meeting, it’s fair to say the two teams know each other pretty well. And that’s not just because there are two familiar faces in the Spurs squad in João Palhinha, who moved on loan from Bayern recently, and ex-Munich man Mathys Tel – the last encounter between the sides isn’t that long ago either. In last summer’s pre-season, Bayern played not one but two friendlies against the Lilywhites, winning 2-1 in Seoul and then 3-2 a week later in London. However, there is a new man in the Spurs dugout. After the disappointing 17th-place finish in the Premier League last season, the club opted for a change, despite ending a 17-year trophy drought with victory in the Europa League. In the hotseat now is Thomas Frank. The friendlies so far have gone promisingly for the Dane and his new team, who have claimed two wins and three draws from five pre-season outings.
“I’m very pleased,” Frank told the club’s website, adding that the games had provided a lot of answers and shown what they still need to work on. The North London club don’t have much time left to try things out, though. The clash with Bayern is the final warm-up for the first competitive match of the season – six days later they head to Udine for the UEFA Super Cup against none other than Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain.
FC Bayern played two successful friendlies against Tottenham in pre-season last year. | © FC Bayern
Bayern vs. Tottenham Hotspur - LIVE on FC Bayern TV PLUS
Listen up, Bayern fans! With an FC Bayern TV PLUS subscription you can watch the encounter against Tottenham live from 18:20 CEST on Thursday on our website fcbayern.com and in the FC Bayern app. The match is also being broadcast on MAGENTA SPORT in Germany.
More info on friendlies on FC Bayern TV PLUS:
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