Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich and treble winners Manchester City lock horns for a pre-season friendly at the National Stadium in Tokyo on Wednesday.
The Citizens came out on top in their last friendly encounter with the Bavarian giants, with Erling Haaland netting the only goal in a slender 1-0 victory in the USA 12 months ago.
Match preview
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Bundesliga dominance has become the norm for Bayern Munich who lifted their 11th successive title last season, with Thomas Tuchel leading the Bavarian giants over the finish line on the final day of the 2022-23 campaign just two months into his reign as manager after replacing Julian Nagelsmann in the dugout.
Tuchel is now preparing for his first full season in charge and is tasked with building a Bayern squad capable of maintaining their German top-flight supremacy along with challenging for glory in the Champions League.
Bayern were comprehensively beaten 4-1 on aggregate by eventual winners Man City in the Champions League quarter-finals last season, with a disappointing 3-0 first-leg loss at the Etihad Stadium – a result which sparked a dressing room bust-up between Sadio Mane and Leroy Sane – followed by a 1-1 second-leg draw at the Allianz Arena.
The Germans will be seeking revenge against a Citizens side whom they have failed to beat in their last four meetings across all tournaments, including two friendly losses, and they head into Wednesday's contest having already made a notable start to their pre-season campaign this summer.
Indeed, Bayern opened their account with a thumping 27-0 victory away against ninth-tier outfit Rottach-Egern last Tuesday, with Jamal Musiala, Marcel Sabitzer and Mathys Tel scoring five goals each.
After taking on Man City, Bayern are scheduled to face Kawasaki in Tokyo on Saturday and Liverpool in Singapore four days later, before concluding their pre-season preparations back in Germany against Monaco on August 7, five days before the DFL-Supercup against RB Leipzig.
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Six weeks after lifting the Champions League trophy and completing a historic treble, Man City began their pre-season tour of Asia in eventful fashion when they secured a thrilling 5-3 victory against Yokohama F Marinos on Sunday.
The Citizens made a somewhat sluggish start to proceedings and found themselves two goals down inside the opening 37 minutes, but two quickfire strikes from John Stones and Julian Alvarez restored parity before the break.
Erling Haaland then followed up his exceptional 52-goal debut campaign in 2022-23 with a second-half brace against the Japanese outfit, while Champions League hero Rodri was also on the scoresheet to help City make a winning start in Asia.
Pep Guardiola has taken positives from the "good challenge" against Yokohama F Marinos, but the Catalan boss has insisted that there are "many things" that his side can improve on ahead of the new season.
Man City are now preparing for a return to the National Stadium in Tokyo for their clash against Bayern, with Guardiola planning for his 13th meeting against Tuchel and hoping to claim his eighth win against the German.
After facing Bayern, the Premier League champions will travel to Seoul to take on Atletico Madrid on Sunday before returning to England for the Community Shield against Arsenal at Wembley Stadium on August 6, five days before their top-flight opener against Burnley at Turf Moor.
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Team News
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Bayern Munich have confirmed that summer signing Raphael Guerreiro is ruled out with a muscle injury sustained in training, and the versatile full-back will be joined in the treatment room by goalkeeper Manuel Neuer (broken leg), Thomas Muller (hip), Malik Tillman (hamstring) and Tarek Buchmann (unspecified).
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting has also not travelled to Tokyo after picking up a knock shortly after coming on as a second-half substitute against Rottach-Egern, so Serge Gnabry could be tasked with leading the line.
Sabitzer has played his last game for Bayern after he completed a permanent move to Borussia Dortmund on Monday, and Mane could soon follow him out the exit door amid reported interest from Al-Nassr, while new recruit Kim Min-jae is available to make his debut at centre-back.
As for Man City, their only injury concern is with playmaker Kevin De Bruyne who remains doubtful as he continues to recover from a hamstring tear sustained in the Champions League final.
Kyle Walker, who has been strongly linked with a move to Bayern this summer, started as captain against Yokohama F Marinos and Guardiola has confirmed that the defender is available for Wednesday's match, while Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte could both be recalled to the first XI after beginning on the bench last time out.
Summer signing Mateo Kovacic will be hoping to keep his place in the starting lineup after making his non-competitive debut last weekend, while Haaland could replace Alvarez up front, with Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Jack Grealish all in contention to provide support in attack.
Bayern Munich possible starting lineup:
Ulreich; Mazraoui, Pavard, Upamecano, Davies; Kimmich, Laimer; Coman, Musiala, Sane; Gnabry
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte; Stones, Rodri; Bernardo, Kovacic, Foden, Grealish; Haaland
We say: Bayern Munich 1-2 Manchester City
While the result is of little importance to either side, a statement friendly victory would not go amiss for either Guardiola or Tuchel coupled with a positive team performance at this stage of pre-season.
Man City have got the better of Bayern in recent meetings, in both competitive and non-competitive fixtures, and should they field a plethora of star names for large spells of Wednesday's contest, they should do enough to come out on top once again in Tokyo.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Oliver Thomas
