Bayern made it three wins out of three in winter friendlies with a 3-0 victory away to fourth-division Bamberg on Saturday, although the match was largely reduced to a lottery by the atrocious conditions both in the air and underfoot.
The 15,000 who made their way to the Weismain Waldstadion were nevertheless rewarded with plenty of action and goals from Tim Borowski, Philipp Lahm and Miroslav Klose, although the greatest source of pleasure for Jürgen Klinsmann and his staff was probably that the players came away from the game without serious injury.
“Our priority on Saturday is re-acclimatising to the winter weather,” the coach said prior to the match, and in that sense, conditions at the Waldstadion were perfect, with light snow flurries in the freezing air and a truly treacherous playing surface, only the lines visible through a blanket of rolled snow.
Five out with illness and injury
Franck Ribery, Mark van Bommel, Jose Sosa, Lukas Podolski and Toni Kroos were all ruled out with illness or injury, so the German champions travelled to the Bavarian region of Upper Franconia with a 17-man squad.
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