Carlo Ancelotti’s first match in charge of Bayern at the Allianz Arena was also Pep Guardiola’s first match back at the Allianz Arena since leaving Bayern, well, two months ago. And to welcome their former boss back, the club put up this glorious banner.
St. Pauli — the pirate club of Germany’s second division — begin a new kit deal with Under Armour this season and as a part of the new partnership, the American company has redecorated the players’ tunnel to the field at Millerntor-Stadion.
After a year away from the game (making cameos in Star Trek films), Carlo Ancelotti was officially unveiled as Bayern Munich’s new manager on Monday. And he was promptly presented with a pair of lederhosen. As a result, I am now counting down the days until Oktoberfest. The thought of him wearing the traditional Bavarian garb is just too much to bear.
Germany fans were eager to show their support for national team defender Jerome Boateng during Sunday’s friendly against Slovakia after a politician suggested that Germans “do not want a Boateng as their neighbor.”
Bayern took their trophy haul to Munich’s central square and the pilot episode of Bayern’s Got Talent broke out.
First, Jerome Boateng did some beatboxing while a woman stood nearby, awkwardly holding a giant glass boot full of beer. Next up, Philipp Lahm and Thomas Müller did a duet. And finally, Franck Ribery made spaceship noises.
The crowd then sang Happy Birthday to Arturo Vidal and, rounding out the randomness, outgoing manager Pep Guardiola said a few words while holding a glass of white wine.
This is what happens when you do this every year and run out of ideas on how to entertain the thousands of people below.
Bayern Munich beat Borussia Dortmund on penalties in the DFB Pokal final to seal the domestic double and send Pep Guardiola off to Man City on a river of tears.
Pep Guardiola’s third and final Bundesliga season concluded with a 3-1 Bayern win over last-place Hannover 96 before one last celebratory beer fight at the Allianz Arena for the departing manager. And David Alaba showed no mercy.
RB Leipzig, a club founded in 2009 by a famous battery acid flavored beverage firm, won promotion to the Bundesliga by beating Karlsruhe 2-0 on Saturday. This prompted the traditional beer splash party on the pitch (and, yes, they did use beer and not the energy drink they were named after), but when the players targeted their manager, Ralf Rangnick, the 57-year-old went to ground with an injury.
Bayern Munich have made a habit of cherry picking some of Borussia Dortmund’s best players of the years and it’s proven to be an effective way to keep BVB in check since they won back to back titles in 2011 and 2012. But now, under new manager Thomas Tuchel, Dortmund have fought back to make the Bundesliga title race relatively interesting this season, which makes Bayern’s official interest in star defender Mats Hummels, who began his career with Bayern, rather interesting.
Though Luis Suarez has brought a certain prominence to angry biting in football, there is actually another type of biting in the game, too. Celebratory biting.
