Tottenham Hotspur vs Bayern Munich
The second installment of a club friendly between two of England’s and Germany’s finest head to North London this weekend.
Seven days after Spurs and Bayern Munich met in South Korea, it’s time to revert much closer to home.
And that means a potential homecoming for a player who missed the pre-season match in Seoul, Tottenham legend and England captain Harry Kane.
Talking Points
In a game full of international friendly highlights, the German giants ran out 2-1 winners, thanks to goals from youngster Gabriel Vidović and Leon Goretzka, in a clash which was more one-sided then the scoreline suggests.
Tottenham came back with a superb strike from Pedro Porro, reminiscent of his goal against Burnley last season which Vincent Kompany people will remember well.
Of course, results are secondary in pre-season but both Kompany, appointed as Bayern head coach in late May following Burnley’s relegation, and his compatriot Ange Postecoglou will be aware of the importance of a confidence-boosting performance with the new campaign firmly on the horizon.
Kompany job is clear this season. The Bavarians need to bounce back and reclaiming the Bundesliga title is considered the bare minimum.
Amongst the recruits the Belgian has made are two players he will know well as they impressed in the Premier League.
Joao Palhinha is a massive loss to Fulham and a big gain for Bayern on a four-year contract until June 2028 for £42.3 million, plus £4.2 million in add-ons.
The 28 year-old Portugal international joined the club a year after their initial deal to sign him collapsed.
Excitingly for Bayern, there is also Michael Olise who has been snapped up from Crystal Palace on a five year deal. He is currently on Olympic duty for France.
These two encounters were, I think, set up as part of the agreement when Bayern signed Kane a year ago and, if involved, he is bound to receive a hero’s welcome – a player who ended his debut season in Germany only five short of equalling Robert Lewandowski’s 41-goal record in a single campaign.
Spurs have made only two signings so far this summer, but they are exciting young prospects in winger Archie Gray and midfielder Lucas Bergvall from Leeds and Djurgarden respectively.
Both aged 18, they are ones for the future, while there are reports, the club could sign one for the ‘here and now’ in the shape of Bournemouth frontman Dominic Solanke.
Either way, the feeling persists that the club will need more if they are to build on last season’s fifth placed Premier League finish.
For so long in control of their own destiny, they missed out on a top four spot and, with the distraction of European football this time around, may struggle to juggle both successfully (albeit they had to cope with a number of absentees in the second half of the campaign).
As the Athletic website noted this week: (Last season was) ‘a broadly positive year in which Postecoglou made plenty of friends wrapped up in slightly fractious fashion, and next for him comes that delicate second season where familiarity eats into goodwill. They like Postecoglou at Spurs. They like the bravery of his football, even if it has flaws. They like the cut of his jib. But they won’t be patient indefinitely.’
They certainly could do with ensuring their best players stay fit and feature more regularly, including Brazilian striker Richarlison who says he wants to stay at the club after turning down a move to Saudi Arabia.
He joined from Everton two years ago for a club-record fee of £60 million but has not been a regular under Postecoglou.
If he finds his best form consistently, he can be a real asset as Spurs are yet to replace the man who is a club legend.
History
Competitively, they have met six times and Bayern have an advantage with four triumphs compared to Spurs’ solitary success and one draw that happened in their very first meeting.
Indeed, their first four games were crammed into 15 months in the early 1980s.
In the 1982/83 European Cup Winners’ Cup, the two were paired together in only the second round and Steve Archibald netted for Spurs in a first leg 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
Bayern were far too strong in the second leg, however, emerging 4-1 winners (5-2 on aggregate).
The following season, little over 12 months later, they were drawn against each other in the third round of the UEFA Cup.
The Germans won the first leg 1-0 at home before Archibald and Mark Falco goals overturned the deficit in the second leg.
Spurs, famously, went onto win the tournament that season, defeating Anderlecht on penalties.
Their meeting in the Champions League in the autumn of 2019 will always be remembered – for good or bad memories – depending on who you support as Spurs ended up being demolished by brutal Bayern in what had been a close contest for 80 minutes.
The return fixture also went the way of Bayern as Ryan Sessegnon’s early goal was sandwiched between Kinglsey Coman, Thomas Muller and Philippe Coutinho in a 3-1 victory for the hosts in Munich. Bayern would go onto be crowned European champions that season.
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