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Manchester United's preparation for the upcoming season reaches its culmination with the final pre-season friendly match against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena on Sunday. United have met Bayern 11 times before and have only won twice. The last time these two sides met was in 2014, in the Champions League quarter-final. United drew the first leg 1-1 at home but lost the away leg 1-3.
United won just 2 of their 5 preseason games in the US so far, and this game will be their final chance to get their act together before their season opener against Leicester City next Friday. United should go into the game with much-needed confidence after beating Real Madrid 2-1 in their final pre-season game in the United States.
Bayern Munich's pre-season was not too different from United's, as they also took part in the International Champions Cup. They won their first game against PSG but lost both of their next two games against Juventus and Manchester City.
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Even though the Bundesliga season is not due until almost three weeks, Bayern do have a German Super Cup tie against Eintracht Frankfurt next Saturday and the German Champions will be looking to use this game as a preparation for that clash. Jupp Heynckes, who retired at the end of the last season, was replaced by Niko Kovac, the ex-skipper of Croatia. Kovac joined from Eintracht Frankfurt and will be desperate to get his tactics right before he faces his old club next Saturday.
Team News
Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford, Phil Jones and Victor Lindelof have cut short their post World Cup vacations and give Jose Mourinho new options ahead of the game. The players themselves will be looking to build momentum and fitness going into the new season and would like to guarantee first team places with improved performances.
Nemanja Matic, Antonio Valencia and Diogo Dalot are confirmed absentees, while Smalling is also recovering from a knock. Anthony Martial has returned to training and is available.
Bayern Munich will be without Arturo Vidal, who is to complete his move to Barcelona. But apart from him, Kovac is expected to have almost all his players available for the game
Predicted First Team
Manchester United Probable XI: De Gea; Darmian, Bailly, Smalling, Shaw; Fred, Pereira, Herrera; Mata, Sanchez, Martial
Bayern Munich Probable XI: Ulreich; Rafinha, Alaba, Richards, Meier; Sanches, Gnabry, Shabani, Ribery, Coman; Wagner
Here are five points to look forward to for the Red Devils in this game
#5 Will the defense improve?
Manchester United kept only one clean sheet in the pre-season so far and that was against a San Jose side who were languishing at the bottom of the MLS. The United defence was in no way poor last season - only Manchester City let in fewer goals in the Premier League. But in the pre-season, the defence has been marred with injuries and absentees and sometimes the lapse in defence has been woeful.
However, with the new season almost on us, Jose will be furious at the defensive frailties of his team and as such, he will be desperate for improvements. With De Gea back in goal, there should be a bit more composure now, but even in the Madrid game, it was a moment of defensive scantiness that allowed Benzema to score. United will be hoping that the Bayern game will mark the revival of the United defence before the pressures of the new season.
#4 Will Jose return to his defensive ways against top teams?
Mourinho has a tendency to defend deep against top teams. And by the looks of his pre-season setup, he is reluctant to change. It could be noted that he had a lot of player missing through injury and World Cup duties, but it is still a facet of his management that leaves fans bewildered.
Manchester United should not be playing with their back against the walls against top teams and the sooner Mourinho adheres to this basic principle, the better chances United will have to win silverware this season. With the addition of Fred and Dalot and rumours of two more signings before the end of the season, Mourinho should use this friendly to show a little ambition.
#3 Will the Fred-Pereira partnership control the game?
Fred and Pereira controlled the first half proceedings in the game against Real Madrid but lost their footings after the break. But the game showed signs of a building partnership between the two Brazilians. As such, it will be interesting to see if those two can renew their connections from the previous game and go one step further.
They complemented each other well in the previous game, understanding each other's playing style, filling in for the other when required, switching places with ease and helping each other out. With more game time under the belt, these two could seal two of the three midfield slots and give a headache to a few others in the team.
One thing that let them down in the previous game was consistency, as their performance took a hit after the break and they could not hold on to their initial intensity, but consistency comes with practice and if selected together, Fred and Pereira will certainly use this chance to cement their places in the first team for the season opener against Leicester City next Friday.
#2 Will Martial play a part in the game?
The Martial saga took a new turn this week. Amid reports that the Frenchman had left the United camp for good and would force a move out of the club, Martial returned to training, amid reports that the club might fine him for his absence. Whatever the case may be, Mourinho cannot afford to let his ego take over now and would be wise to slot Martial back into the team, depending on his fitness, immediately.
United are already short of attacking power and with none of the other strikers fully fit yet, Martial becomes very essential in the upcoming game against Bayern. Martial playing down the left, with Sanchez in the middle and Mata, for lack of other options, down the right, should bring a balance to the team ahead of the game against Leicester City. Martial's presence and trickery on the left, will also work to Sanchez's advantage and Mourinho must use this game to build some sort of partnership between the two.
#1 Can Alexis Sanchez continue his top form?
With the absence of addition of any attacking players in the squad this summer till now, United fans had no option but turn to the Chilean, who joined them in January, for inspiration. And Sanchez has inspired in pre-season. He has already scored 2 goals in the 4 games he played, playing out of position as a central striker. He also assisted Herrera's goal in the Real Madrid game.
With Lukaku unlikely to start, Sanchez will be ready to be United's main striker again and United fans will hope that he can continue his rejuvenated preparation to the season, in the last preseason game.
Sanchez has looked lively in preseason so far, combining excellently with Juan Mata, but his understanding with his teammates as a whole has improved a lot. It seems all he needed was a little more time to settle down, and by the looks of things now, his time seems to have finally arrived. This season, Sanchez might well be the saviour United need and for the Chilean, Sunday will be a step towards establishing that fact.
