FC Bayern claim victory in final tour outing

Bayern Munich inflicted our first defeat of pre-season as our summer tour ended with a 2-1 reverse at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The German outfit – with new manager Vincent Kompany taking charge of his first real test since being appointed during the summer – were by far the better side in the first half and led by Gabriel Vidovic’s early goal at the break before Leon Goretzka doubled their advantage.

But, with plenty of substitutions made by both sides from half-time onwards, we worked our way back into the game thanks to one of Pedro Porro’s trademark thunderbolts on 66 minutes however we couldn’t find the equaliser in the stifling Seoul heat.

We came up against one familiar face as Eric Dier came off the bench in the second half, but our all-time top goalscorer Harry Kane wasn’t involved for Bayern as he hasn’t returned to training following Euro 2024. In front of a sell-out crowd, Serge Gnabry fired over inside two minutes but Bayern took the lead in the fourth minute, Gnabry racing in to steal Guglielmo Vicario’s pass out to Djed Spence with the ball falling to Vidovic who slotted home from close range.

We created a great opening on 10 minutes after some excellent pressing by Pape Matar Sarr, who won the ball back on half-way and found Dejan Kulusevski, he twisted and turned Min-Jae Kim to work some space only for Josip Stanisic to get across and block his shot superbly. Vicario made a smart save to keep out Mathys Tel’s effort in the 18th minute while Gnabry’s effort deflected off Radu Dragusin and briefly had Vicario concerned but drifted wide. Bayern were certainly the dominant side, enjoying plenty of possession and almost doubled their lead on 37 minutes but Tel’s fierce angled drive fizzed just wide before Gnabry curled left-footed a yard past the far upright moments later.

Two minutes before half-time Tel poked wide after another slick Bayern move and Vicario saved Raphael Guerreiro’s 15-yard shot as we went in at the break probably fortunate to be trailing by just the single goal.

We had the first opening of the second period when Kulusevski drilled inches wide after an excellent burst forward from Spence but we were indebted to Vicario again on 53 minutes who kept out Bryan Zaragoza’s shot. Both sides made a number of changes at half-time and 10 minutes into the half, the familiar face of Dier emerged off the Bayern bench to replace local favourite Kim. Within a minute Bayern added their second, Goreztka netting after Vicario had saved his initial effort.

Our best chance of the game came on the hour mark as Heung-Min Son, cheered to the rafters every time he touched the ball, broke clear and slipped the perfect pass for Sarr but he was denied by substitute goalkeeper Sven Ulreich. However we were back in the contest shortly after as Porro collected Yves Bissouma’s pass and hit a unstoppable right-foot screamer past Ulreich from 25 yards out. It was almost 2-2 moments later too, Porro’s fine pass finding Lucas Bergvall on the edge of the area but he fired wide with just the goalkeeper to beat.

We finished the contest strongly, pressing for the equaliser without quite creating that one golden opportunity while Brandon Austin – replacing Vicario late on – made three saves from Nestory Irankunda in the final minutes to keep us in the hunt, but it wasn’t to be.

Watch highlights | FC Bayern 2-1 Spurs

Match data

Goals: FC Bayern – Vidovic 4, Goreztka 56; Spurs – Pedro Porro 66.

Yellow cards: FC Bayern – Goreztka; Spurs – Spence.

Referee: Dae-Yong Kim.

Venue: Seoul World Cup Stadium, South Korea.

Weather: Clear sky, light winds, 30 degrees.

Attendance: 63,496.