“We are very lucky to be able to make history.” Like Joshua Kimmich, the players from Bayern Munich want to add to their five-title Grand Slam in 2020 a sixth trophy: Club World Cup in Qatar.
On Monday (12:00 in Honduras), in Rayán, very close to Doha, the European champions face their semifinal against the Egyptian club Al-Ahly, winner of the African Champions League.
“It’s a team that has the ambition to play football and has a lot of offensive solutions. Its side defenses are also very offensive,” Bavarian coach Hansi Flick said on Sunday, urging players not to underestimate their rivals.
If they win, the Germans will play in Thursday’s final against Tigers of Mexico, which defeated the Brazilian Palmeiras 1-0 on Sunday.
“Let’s go to Club World Cup with the very clear goal of bringing the trophy to Munich. Six trophies from the same season, so far only FC Barcelona has succeeded “, launched the Bayern skipper Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, full of enthusiasm.
– Ambitious players –
Bayern won the Bundesliga and the German Cup, the Champions League and the German and European Super Cups in 2020.
By 2013, “Rekordmeister” had won five trophies out of six, inclusive Club World Cup, but did not win the German Super Cup, which gave way to his great rival of the time, Borussia Dortmund.
“Always wanting to win everything, he has long been inscribed in the DNA of this club,” Rummenigge recalled, revealing an episode in the club’s life that illustrates this mentality.
When the World Cup was canceled a few months ago because of the coronavirus, Rummenigge, Hansi Flick and a delegation of players from the team went to him to ask him to talk to their friend Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, to convince him to played the tournament at any cost.
Rummenigge says that gesture impressed him: “They won everything in 2020, they have a hellish program, but they want even more,” he explained.
“We absolutely wanted to play this tournament,” Flick confirmed. “We know we have to face fatigue, but we have become motivated, and the culmination of an extraordinary season with a sixth title is an excellent motivation,” added the coach.
– Bayern tired –
An incident at Berlin airport on Friday added even more pressure. When it was due to take off at the end of the night to arrive in Doha around 07:00 in the morning, the team’s plane was tied to the ground in the German capital and could only leave on Saturday.
At the sporting level, Bayern He arrives tired, but his offensive potential (3 goals per game this season on average) continues to make a difference: he has five consecutive victories in the Bundesliga.
“Our game is always analyzed by saying that Bayern it’s not as dominant as last season. But we must not forget that last year was absolutely exceptional for us “, remarked Thomas Müller recently.
“We had a short winter break to regain our strength. We have an excellent team. It is important to have this reserve of players and to be able to make changes,” midfielder Joshua Kimmich said on Sunday.
“To say that we have too many games is not really a valid excuse. The conditions are in place for us to have a good tournament,” the player added.
The German champions arrive almost completely in Qatar. Only Leon Goretzka and Javi Martínez, who tested positive for coronavirus, remained in Munich.
Since 2013, Club World Cup was always won by the European representative and Bayern he wants to extend that field.