Bayern Munich suffer defeat in pre-season game against FC Koln
The preparations for the new campaign at Bayern Munich took a significant step on Saturday as they played their first pre-season game against FC Koln. The defending Bundesliga Champions didn’t get an ideal result as they succumbed to 3-2 defeat, but there were positives from this game.
Dayot Upamecano and Omar Richards made their debut in Bavarian colours during this game. The new recruits managed to get 45 minutes under their belt as they played the first half of the game. Sven Ulreich also made his second debut for the club after returning to Bavaria this summer to replace Alexander Nubel.
The German Champions had numerous young players from reserves participating in this game since several senior players are still on holiday. Some of these young players managed to impress during this game.
From a team’s perspective, there was some quality play in the final third. The efforts in the final third were rewarded by two well-taken goals from Joshua Zirkzee and Armindo Sieb. At the other end of the pitch, there was a lot of chaos. Die Roten couldn’t contain FC Koln forwards and ended up conceding three goals.
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Bouna Sarr and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting also got 45 minutes under their belt during the game. Chris Richards started the game in central defense with Upamecano, while Taylor Booth started in the midfield. Both young US stars are set to go out on loan after pre-season training at Die Roten.
Sieb was probably the biggest positive for Rekordmeister in this game. The young German star looked lively in the final third. He also showed composure to finish the move for his goal. Die Roten had signed the young forward from Hoffenheim at the end of the 2019/20 campaign. Meanwhile, the midfield pairing of Booth and Torbin Rhein also had a good game against FC Koln.
The pre-season games are all about getting fitness and rhythm back on track, so Nagelsmann is unlikely to be fussed with the result on Saturday. Promising performances from few young players is the biggest takeaway for Rekordmeister from the defeat against FC Koln.
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Bayern has three more pre-season games lined up in the next two weeks. They will be playing against Ajax, Borussia Monchengladbach, and Napoli before the DFB Pokal tie against Bremer SV. Senior players will return for the final two pre-season games, but Nagelsmann has ruled out Marc Roca, Lucas Hernandez, and Alphonso Davies. The first team trio is likely to miss the first couple of Bundesliga games due to injuries.