Club Friendly: Singapore Sling Anyone?

Liverpool vs Bayern Munich

Another high profile club friendly as pre-season reaches its final stages and a chance for a Singapore audience to see some of football’s big beasts.

While results count for little at this stage, this contest could certainly provide an outline of where both teams will be once the real stuff kicks off.

So sit back, grab a Singapore sling and perhaps anticipate some friendly highlights between Bayern Munich and Liverpool.

Talking Points

After securing an 11^th straight Bundesliga title against the odds on the final day of last season, Thomas Tuchel’s Bavarians have their sights set on 12 in a row.

What’s more they also want to get in a prolific frontman, 12 months after they said farewell to the seemingly irreplaceable Robert Lewandowski.

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After some pretty comfortable triumphs domestically, they don’t want it to be so close again, while they will also demand an improvement in Europe after they were despatched with ease in the Champions League quarter-finals for the second successive season.

How much they could improve with Harry Kane in their ranks remains to be seen but he would certainly be the ideal replacement for the prolific Pole.

In recent days it has been reported that the German champions have sent two of their top executives to London for talks with the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy.

The situation is not straightforward as it’s been reported Paris Saint-Germain are interested in Kane and willing to outbid anybody for him.

Yet the England captain, who has one year remaining on his Spurs contract, wants to go to Bayern if he is allowed to leave this summer and there is an open channel of communication between the two clubs which suggests he may get his wish.

Likewise, another Premier League import could be on his way with Munich due to step up talks with Brentford over goalkeeper David Raya and hopeful of reaching an agreement as they attempt to provide cover for Manuel Neuer, who is still recovering after breaking his leg in a mid-season skiing accident.

While Kane may well soon join Min-jae Kim, Konrad Laimer and Raphael Guerreiro as the new recruits at the Bundesliga champions, one man could be on his way out and denied the chance to face his former club.

It baffles me why that, after a season blighted by injury, Sadio Mane does not get a chance to show his undoubted ability.

Sadio Mane could miss playing against Liverpool as he is reportedly set to leave Bayern Munich — Sadio Mane playing for Bayern Munich

However, it appears Tuchel has decided there’s no room for the Ghanian who is due to complete his medical in Dubai on Monday after agreeing a contract with Al-Nassr.

Mané signed a three year contract in Bavaria last summer but fell out of favour after punching team-mate Leroy Sané in the face in a dressing-room argument after the team’s 3-0 defeat at eventual champions Manchester City in the Champions League.

Liverpool have new faces to bed in themselves and have brought in Argentina world champion Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, the latter arriving from RB Leipzig, this summer.

How the new arrivals settle at both clubs could prove key as another long campaign beckons.

History

Bayern have only defeated the Merseysiders once since their first meeting in 1971.

In fact, they met four times during that calendar year and that sole victory came in the November – a 3-1 victory in Munich in the second round of the European Cup Winners’ Cup following a goalless first leg.

The season previously, Liverpool had won their Fairs Cup fourth round tie 4-1 on aggregate, inspired by a first leg Alun Evan’s hat-trick.

Their most recent meeting came in the last 16 of the Champions League four years ago when a goalless draw first leg was followed by a 3-1 away success in Munich, led by two goal Mane.

Overall, alongside that one Bayern victory and three Liverpool wins, there have been five draws.