Two days after a 13-0 rout of Qatari second division side Al-Sailiya, Bayern faced a much sterner task against top Egyptian club Al Ahly on Saturday night, but still came away with a second win of the winter training period. Jupp Heynckes’ side battled to a 2-1 victory over the men from Cairo in a hard-fought clash at Al Rayyan Stadium in Qatar, although some of the gloss was taken off the win by an early injury to Mario Gomez.
A crowd of around 8,000 saw a keenly-contested and often entertaining match, in which Ivica Olic scored both Bayern’s goals, the opener after half-an-hour and the deserved winner deep into stoppage time at the end. Mohamad Barakat equalised four minutes after the restart for the six-time African Champions League winners, who put up stiff opposition to the Bundesliga leaders as expected.
“We’ve been working intensively every day, so a few things were bound to be patchy. My players are tired, but that’s what mid-season training is for. We’re looking for the line-up to start the match against Gladbach,” Heynckes explained before kick-off. As a result, the coach declined to call on the services of Franck Ribéry, who is suspended for the resumption of Bundesliga hostilities on 20 January.
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