Friendly : Bayern Munich 15 : 0 Trentino Regional XI

A little under four weeks before the first competitive match of the new season, Bayern rattled up the goals in their first friendly workout under new boss Jupp Heynckes. Summer signing Nils Petersen helped himself to a hat-trick as the German giants outclassed a Trentino Regional XI on Wednesday afternoon, strolling to a 15–0 victory.

Heynckes started his troops in a tried and trusted 4–2–3–1 formation, with Rafinha, Daniel van Buyten, Holger Badstuber and Philipp Lahm forming the rearguard in front of keeper Manuel Neuer. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk lined up in defensive midfield, with Arjen Robben, Toni Kroos and David Alaba looking to supply lone centre forward Mario Gomez.


The 3,000 crowd at the compact Arco stadium saw Bayern set off in determined mood, confirming the lively impression from the first few days of the Lake Garda training camp. It was one-way traffic from the start, Gomez accepting Alaba's precise through ball to open the scoring after just six minutes. Seven minutes later, the busy and impressive Alaba was only denied a goal of his own by the woodwork, following a decent shot from the left edge of the penalty area.

Schweinsteiger's aim was better when he added the second just a minute after that, and the same player struck on 17 inutes to make the score 3–0. Kroos (20, 39), Tymoshchuk (26) and Gomez (41) rattled the score up to 7–0 before half-time. The home team only threatened once in the first 45 minutes, Neuer preventing Alessandro Poli from scoring with 10 minutes on the clock.

Goals galore for the crowd

Heynckes made a total of nine changes during and after half-time, but it did nothing to change the pattern of the match, nor Bayern's hunger for goals. Robben was fouled in the box just two minutes after the restart, but picked himself up and converted the resulting penalty. Luiz Gustavo then added the ninth with a 51st-minute header.

Last season's second division top scorer Petersen had good reason to celebrate just after the hour with his first goal in a red shirt, the striker bringing up double figures for his side from a Ribéry assist. Ivica Olic was equally jubilant four minutes later, the Croat celebrating his comeback from an eight-month injury lay-off with a close-range finish to make the score 11–0.

The pace dropped as Bayern showed mercy for a spell, but the crowd saw another barrage of goals in the last ten minutes, as Danijel Pranjic (80), Cüneyt Köz (85) and Petersen (86, 87) rounded off the 15-goal gala.

FC Bayern Munich sign Manuel Neuer

Bayern Munich and Schalke 04 have today agreed and signed the contract for Manuel Neuer’s transfer. Manuel Neuer will thus join Germany’s biggest club on 1 July 2011.

Following his return from Euro 2012 qualifying duty away to Azerbaijan next week, the Germany international goalkeeper will fly to Munich for a medical and to sign a five-year contract binding him to FCB until 30 June 2016. Neuer will be assigned the squad number 1.

“I’m really looking forward to the massive and exciting challenge of playing for Bayern,” Neuer commented, “many of my colleagues in the national team will now also be team-mates in Munich, so it won’t be entirely new for me and I’m sure I’ll settle in quickly.“

Commenting on the deal, Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said: “We at FC Bayern are delighted at signing Manuel Neuer on a long-term contract. He is not only the first-choice goalkeeper for Germany, he is one of the best keepers in the world.”

Brazilian Defender Rafina signs a Three Year Deal with FC Bayern Munich

Following the capture of young Cottbus striker Nils Petersen last week, Bayern have announced the second new face for the 2011/12 season. Brazilian defender Rafinha, who spent last term in Serie A with CFC Genoa, signed a three-year contract at the Säbener Strasse on Wednesday, keeping him with FCB until 30 June 2014. The 25-year-old returns to the Bundesliga for an undisclosed fee.

“We’ve signed Rafinha, an established and experienced player, to add even greater stability to our defence. We’ll also benefit from his footballing skill. We’re very pleased we’ve been able to reach agreement with him and Genoa over his transfer to Munich,” FCB director of sport Christian Nerlinger commented.

Rafinha, whose given name is Marcio Rafael Ferreira de Souza, played for Schalke from 2005 until 2010, making 153 appearances in the Bundesliga and 31 in European competition before moving to the Italian top flight last summer. In Genoa, where he lined up with former Bayern striker Luca Toni until the winter transfer period, the right-sided defender played 34 league games for the side who ultimately finished tenth.


“I’m delighted my transfer to Munich has worked out and that I’ll be playing in the Bundesliga again,” commented Rafinha, whose career highlight to date is a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Football Tournament in Beijing with a Brazil U-23 team also including FCB centre-back Breno. The player said his target with Bayern was “finally to win the trophies I’ve been denied so far. I’ll now be facing the best teams and the best players in the world, and I’m very happy.”

During Rafinha’s spell in Gelsenkirchen, Schalke won the League Cup and finished runners-up in the Bundesliga twice. The 1.72 metre (5 ft 8 in) right-back, who weighs in at a slimline 66 kg (145 pounds) and has earned one senior cap for Brazil to date, is now aiming to add significant honours to his collection.

Rafinha’s arrival means Bayern captain Philipp Lahm is likely to switch flanks to left-back, a position he has filled with distinction in the past. “We discussed this option in advance with our new coach Jupp Heynckes,” Nerlinger revealed, “and Mr Heynckes explicitly welcomed this combination.” Lahm has also signalled his approval to a return to the left side of defence.

Friendly : Bayern Munich 13 : 1 Paulaner XI

An ecstatic crowd of 9,500, 20 amateur players seeing their dream come true, and a total of 14 goals all made for a festival night at the Paulaner Southern Cup event in Burghausen on Monday evening. Bayern took on an amateur XI put together by long-term partner Paulaner breweries, winning by a comfortable 13-1 margin. Bundesliga top scorer Mario Gomez led off the entertainment with five goals on the night.

No fewer than 10,000 amateur players from all over Bavaria applied for the one-off opportunity of a game against Germany’s biggest club. Following a casting in front of a jury headed by Paul Breitner and TV personality Waldemar Hartmann, and a brief training camp at Bayern’s Säbener Strasse facility, organisers selected five regional teams, representing Franconia, Lower Bavaria, Upper Bavaria, Upper Palatinate and Swabia. The men from Lower Bavaria topped a final qualifying tournament and earned the privilege of facing FCB at Burghausen’s Wacker Stadium.

Fun for all

“It's an appealing, fun idea,” commented Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, as the club arrived in Burghausen with all the fit members of the senior squad. The players clearly enjoyed their evening to the full, delighting the crowd with flowing football and goals galore. “It wasn’t important how many we scored, this was all about having fun,” an upbeat Franck Ribéry said afterwards.


Bayern opened the scoring on 14 minutes through Marcos Alvarez, one of four FCB II players to feature on the night. Gomez (20, 28, 45), Miroslav Klose (25) and Philipp Lahm (31) made it half a dozen before the interval. The plucky amateurs fought gamely to stem the tide, and almost scored themselves, only for seventh-tier striker Christian Brandl to hit the bar after 30 minutes.

Teasing and tormenting

Andries Jonker sent on Danijel Pranjic, Toni Kroos, Arjen Robben and Ribéry for the second period, and the deadly wing duo were in sparkling form, tormenting their opponents at times with blistering movement and pace. The pair immediately added their names to the scoresheet, Robben netting twice (47, 51) and Ribéry adding one of his own (54), before the wingers turned providers for Kroos (65, 67) and Gomez (78).

Nine minutes from time, the Paulaner XI were rewarded for their courageous display when Herbert Grammetbauer scored a consolation goal, sending his fellow players and the crowd into raptures. Bayern were to have the final word, however, as Gomez rounded off the scoring to make it 13-1 two minutes from time.

Friendly : Bayern Munich 4 : 3 Düren District XI

An excited 9,000 crowd at the Langerwehe stadium in the district of Düren in the far west of Germany endured humid sunshine, torrential rain and driving hail on Sunday afternoon, but the fans were rewarded for their perseverance with goals galore and plenty of free-flowing football, as Bayern beat a local district XI by the odd goal in seven in the first of three post-season friendlies.

The day after the final match of the Bundesliga campaign at home to Stuttgart, FCB boss Andries Jonker began with just four players from the starting line-up against VfB, with FCB II youngsters Cüneyt Köz, Nicolas Jüllich and Marcos Alvarez also taking the field for kick-off. The home side comprised players drawn from sixth-tier clubs Germania Lich-Steinstraß, Viktoria Arnoldsweiler and Borussia Freialdenhoven

In a lively and entertaining encounter, Visar Behramyi handed the underdogs a shock seventh-minute lead, but Bayern took control after that and Anatoliy Tymoshchuk struck on 23 and 44 minutes to nose the top flight visitors in front.

The home side were not done yet and came out fighting for the second half. Ersan Köcyigit (63) and Thomas Betzer (79) set up the prospect of an upset against FCB, as the Bavarians made a total of six changes in the course of the second 45 minutes. However, Holger Badstuber (84) and newly-crowned Bundesliga top scorer Mario Gomez (87) struck late on to ensure the Munich party headed home with a win – and as a bonus, no injured players.

Facts and Stats from Bayern Munich vs VfB Sttutgart

9 - Bayern are undefeated in nine league games, a good foundation for next season.

12 - Arjen Robben has 12 goals and eight assists since Christmas. On Saturday, he laid on Mario Gomez’ equaliser.

15 - Gomez has scored 15 of his 28 goals this term in the calendar year 2011.

19 - Bayern have scored at least once in their last 19 league matches, the longest such streak in the top flight.

36 - FCB are the best team since the halfway point of the season with fully 36 points

50 - Munich are the league’s top scorers since Christmas with 50 goals. The last time any team achieved that was in 1985/86 – and it was also Bayern back then.

77 - Bastian Schweinsteiger was the busiest player on the field against Stuttgart with 77 touches of the ball.

81 - Bayern are the league’s top scorers this term with 81 goals, easily surpassing champions Borussia Dortmund (67).

100 - Of Munich’s 102 league games at the Allianz Arena, no fewer than 100 have now been officially sold out.

109 - Philipp Lahm has started an amazing 109 consecutive games for the club.

121 - Games involving Bayern this season produced a total of 121 goals, the most in the Bundesliga.

Matchday 34 : FC Bayern Munich 2 : 1 VfB Sttutgart

As it turned out, Bayern’s slender hopes of second spot were not to be fulfilled on the last day of the 2010/11 season, but Andries Jonker’s side closed their league programme with an entertaining 2-1 win over Stuttgart to finish third in the Bundesliga and seal a Champions League qualifying spot.

The 69,000 capacity crowd at the Allianz Arena saw the home side, playing for the first time in their new red and gold jerseys, start brightly enough but fall behind to a Shinji Okazaki strike midway through the first half. Mario Gomez, confirmed as the league’s leading scorer this season, levelled from a superb pass by the outstanding Arjen Robben, but the sides cancelled each other out for long spells after that. Bastian Schweinsteiger headed FCB into the lead with 20 minutes to go, and Jonker’s men comfortably held out to claim a 13th home win of term.

The result, coupled with Leverkusen’s 1-0 win away to Freiburg, means Munich have come third in the Bundesliga on 65 points from their 34 matches, three off second-placed Bayer and five clear of Hannover in fourth. The Bavarians round off a roller-coaster season with three friendlies in the coming week, before the playing and coaching staff start their official summer leave. Training under new boss Jupp Heynckes officially restarts on 1 July.


For his final game in charge, interim coach Jonker made two changes to the side which destroyed St Pauli last week, Holger Badstuber replacing the injured Luiz Gustavo, and Miroslav Klose in for the suspended Franck Ribery. For Stuttgart, fresh from securing their top flight status last week, boss and former FCB striker Bruno Labbadia fielded Pavel Pogrebnyak in place of club captain Cacau (groin surgery).

The afternoon opened with farewells and a bouquet of flowers each for Thomas Kraft, Hamit Altintop and Andreas Ottl, all of whom are leaving the club, but once referee Florian Meyer whistled play underway, any end-of-term feeling rapidly vanished as the sides served up a hard-fought, high-tempo first period with chances at both end.

Both keepers were in action early on, Jörg Butt saving from Zdravko Kuzmanovic, and Sven Ulreich blocking shots by Robben and Klose, who then fired over with the goal at his mercy. Worse was to come for the Germany striker, as he totally miscued from just a couple of yards following Robben’s piercing run to the by-line.


VfB made the most of the let-off and seized the initiative for a spell, Okazaki initially testing Butt from distance, and then netting from close range on 24 minutes after Martin Harnik broke clear and crossed first time from the right. Butt tipped a Christian Träsch curler away to safety, before the score in missed sitters moved to 1-1 when Austria international Harnik inexplicably failed to connect when faced with an empty net.

A moment of Robben magic led to the 37th-minute equaliser and swung the balance back Bayern’s way. The Dutch superstar controlled a long pass with a superb first touch, before setting off on a weaving run across the face of the box and slipping a sublime pass between four VfB defenders, leaving Gomez with the simplest of tasks from eight yards.

Butt was forced to tip a Pogrebnyak thunderbolt over the bar before half-time, but although the intensity remained high after the restart, chances became thinner on the ground as the sides paused for breath.


FCB upped the pace on the hour, but Thomas Müller came up inches short of Schweinsteiger’s clever headed pass, and Jonker opted for fresh impetus on 65 minutes by sending on Ottl and Toni Kroos for Tymoshchuk and the luckless Klose. Serdar Tasci put a rare Stuttgart chance into Row Z, but Schweinsteiger deservedly put Bayern ahead on 71 minutes with a near-post header from Kroos’ inswinging free-kick.

Gomez came within an ace of his 29th goal of the season only to flick Lahm’s cross onto the underside of the bar, before Kuzmanovic shaved the crossbar with a free-kick. Gomez walked off to a standing ovation three minutes from time, his place going to Danijel Pranjic, but although the visitors ended the game on the attack, the match ended in an ultimately deserved home win.