“The match against Manchester City is important because we play at home”

The pre-season does not let up and Bayern will face Manchester City on Wednesday at the Allianz Arena. The match will mark Carlo Ancelotti’s first fixture at home and Pep Guardiola’s return to the stadium which was his until a few weeks ago. Two reasons which are more than sufficient to enjoy a big, important match which the Italian coach sought to emphasise in the press room: “For me, all friendlies are important, but this one is even more so because it’s the first one at the Allianz.”

Ancelotti, who has just completed one week of training sessions, is very satisfied with the performance of his players and is confident of getting them all back up to speed bit by bit. This morning, in fact, he witnessed the return of the Spaniard Bernat, who completed an individual fitness session with the fitness coach Holger Broich. This is not the case with Douglas Costa, who still has 20 days of recovery left, nor with Robben, who sustained an injury in the first match of the pre-season. The coach spoke about the Dutchman after the morning session: “We are not happy because he is an important player. We hope to be able to call upon him at the start of the season.”

Of course, the new Bayern coach had words of praise for the man who was his predecessor, the man he will face tomorrow. “Pep is a good friend, I have a good relationship with him. I think that he has done a great job with Bayern,” said the Italian, who keeps a welcome message that Guardiola left him in the dressing room as a talisman. ‘With great esteem, good luck Carlo!’