Bayern finished third at the T-Home Cup in Gelsenkirchen after a deserved 2-1 win over home side Schalke 04 in Sunday's third-place play-off, and now return to the Donaueschingen training camp on the back of a decent result. A 40,000 crowd saw Breno (13) and a Benedikt Höwedes own-goal (26) put FCB two up, before Halil Altintop (29) pulled one back for the Royal Blues before half-time.
Van Gaal's line-up exclusively featured players who had not appeared in the previous day's defeat to Hamburg, with the sole exception of Hamit Altintop, who replaced Anatoliy Tymoshchuk during Saturday's match. Summer signing Ivica Olic, who completed a three-match ban from his days with Hamburg on Saturday, made his first appearance in a Bayern shirt.
Olic very nearly made the perfect start to his Munich career after a mere 42 seconds, only to miskick from strike partner Thomas Müller's through ball. Clearly encouraged by the promising start, the FCB side moved the ball crisply and with confidence, and also created far more by way of chances compared to the previous day's lacklustre performance.
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