Bayern take Manchester City in their final International Champions Cup appearance

Bayern vs Manchester City – Saturday, July 28, 16:05PST/19:05EST/00:05 BST (Sunday)  – Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, USA

Bayern vs Manchester City will take place at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)

Bayern München will play their final International Champions Cup match on Saturday against Manchester City at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. Off the field, the ICC has been a stunning success for the Bavarian giants.

The Rekordmeister managed to renew old business contacts; players rubbed shoulders with US-sport stars from the National Football League and Major League Baseball. “The people love sport. And, for example, FC Bayern come to town that mobilises people,” FC Bayern legend, and now Chicago Fire star, Bastian Schweinsteiger explained in an interview with Bayern’s official homepage.

“There is a lot of interest in Bayern. Of course, the English teams have an advantage as a lot of Premier League games are on TV. But FC Bayern matches are shown as well,” Schweinsteiger added.

Bayern also used the US tour to finalise the signing of North America’s brightest talent Alphonso Davies. The Canadian will join the club in January but was presented as a new signing during the club’s stop in Philadelphia.

On the field, the results have been a mixed bag for Niko Kovac. Bayern may have won their first ICC match in Klagenfurt 3-1 against Paris Saint-Germain. But the first half showed that there were still some issues with the system that new head Niko Kovac wants to implement.

Bayern then lost the second match against Juventus at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia 2-0 after a disastrous first half. Of course, these are still early times in the club’s preparation for the upcoming Bundesliga season, which is still almost a month away. Hence, as the World Cup stars are slowly being fed back into the squad Kovac’s work is still at the beginning as he slowly tries to transition the club towards a bright future.

First, however, the club will have one more friendly against Manchester City. Manchester City were beaten in their two previous ICC games. The Sky Blues were beaten 1-0 by Bayern’s Bundesliga rival Borussia Dortmund and then lost 2-1 to Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool.

Guardiola, similar, to Kovac, however, still has to rely heavily on players that have not taken part at the World Cup and, as a result, the scorelines have to be taken with a grain of salt. In fact, Guardiola is known to experiment heavily in friendly matches, and the same can be expected in the game against his former club Bayern München.

With both teams rotating before and during the match the result could be a toss-up. But previous friendlies between the two teams suggest high scorelines, which would be fantastic news for all those attending the fixture.

Bayern vs Manchester City – Players to look out for:

Frank Ribéry #7 – Bayern München

The arrival of Alphonso Davies, as well as, the previous signings of Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman suggest that this could be Frank Ribéry’s last season at Bayern. The winger will turn 36-years in April, and recent statistics published by the German magazine kicker indicate that the French winger is in decline when it comes to distance covered, top speed and the number of sprints completed. At the same time, Ribéry is a club legend at Bayern and has played 248 games in the Bundesliga for the German giants. Furthermore, Ribéry is always a joy to watch, and his trickery will certainly be missed once he hangs up his boots. Seeing him on this US-tour is, therefore, something US Bayern fans should savour as it might be the last time for them to see Ribéry perform in a Bayern shirt.

Franck Ribery of FC Bayern München kicks the ball during the International Champions Cup match between Juventus Turin and FC Bayern München at Lincoln Financial Field on July 25, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Alexandra Beier/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Riyad Mahrez #26 – Manchester City

New Manchester City signing Riyad Mahrez made his club debut at the ICC match against Borussia Dortmund. He was then featured against Liverpool in City’s second game. Guardiola still appears to look for the right role for the attacking midfielder, who can also play as a striker. Mahrez started as a winger against Dortmund and played in an advanced midfield role against Liverpool. Signed for €67.8 million from Leicester City, Mahrez, however, is more of an attacking winger and the Algerian national team player is best-suited playing in a 4-3-3 setup. Given City’s abundance of wingers, however, it will be interesting to see how Guardiola plans to use his new signing.

Riyad Mahrez joined Manchester City from Leicester City this summer (Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

Bayern vs Manchester City – Match Stats

• Guardiola spent three seasons at Bayern between 2013 and ’16, winning the Bundesliga three times and the DFB Cup twice. His 80 percent win ratio remains a record.
• Renato Sanches’ strike against PSG – a clever free-kick which deceived Remy Descamps at his near post – was his first goal for the club.
• The 20-year-old Renato Sanches is joined by 13 teenagers in Bayern’s squad for the ICC. Ribery is the oldest team member in the USA at 35-years-old.
• Bayern swept to their sixth consecutive Bundesliga title last season, 21 points clear of nearest challengers Schalke. Man City won the English Premier League title with a 19-point gap to second-place Manchester United.
• Bayern have met City six times in the UEFA Champions League, winning three games apiece. The Bavarians took the spoils the last time they played, though, winning 1-0 in a pre-season friendly in the summer of 2016.

Futbolgrad Network Prediction: Bayern vs Manchester City – 3-2

Bayern vs Manchester City – Lineups

Bayern München:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Squad: Alaba, Batista-Meier, Bernat, Coman, Früchtl, Gnabry, Hoffmann, Jeong, Johansson, Martinez, Meier, Rafinha, Ribery, Richards, Robben, Sanches, Shabani, Stanisic, Ulreich, Wagner, Will, Wriedt, Zaiser, Zirkzee, Zylla

Head Coach: Niko Kovac

Manchester City:

Formation: 4-2-3-1

Squad: Bolton, Bravo, Dele-Bashiru, Denayer, Diaz, Foden, Garcia, Garre, Grimshaw, Harrison, Hart, Humphreys, Luiz, Mahrez, Matondo, Muric, Nmecha, Ogbeta, Pozo, Roberts, Sane, B.Silva, Touaizi, Wilson,  Zinchenko

Head Coach: Pep Guardiola

Manuel Veth is the owner and Editor in Chief of the Futbolgrad Network. He also works as a freelance journalist and among others works for the Bundesliga and Pro Soccer USA. He holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in History from King’s College London, and his thesis is titled: “Selling the People’s Game: Football’s transition from Communism to Capitalism in the Soviet Union and its Successor States,” which is available HERE. Originally from Munich, Manuel has lived in Amsterdam, Kyiv, Moscow, Tbilisi, London, and currently is located in Victoria BC, Canada.  Follow Manuel on Twitter @ManuelVeth.