FULL-TIME! Bayern 1-0 Internazionale
Bayern leave it late to score in a game which they dominated in terms of possession but struggled to find a finishing touch. Lots of work for Inter to do having failed to register an attempt on target until the last minute. Thanks for reading. Bye!
90 min + 2: Tick tock, tick tock. Bayern knocking it about the back with little intention of going forward.
90 min: … from that they go on the attack and Longo wins a corner. Baldini takes it and Jesus powers a header into Ulreich’s hands. At least they have managed an attempt on target. There will be three minutes added on.
Updated
89 min: Green is fed by Gaudino but he is fended off strongly by D’Ambrosio and Inter have a goal-kick.
86 min: Pass, pass, pass. Nothing else to see here, folks, we’re playing the final minutes down.
84 min: Bayern killing the game now, zapping all the remaining tempo out of it. Must say there is quite the passionate crowd inside the ground – just shy of 40,000 and most of them in Bayern garb, singing the club’s name.
82 min: Can Inter respond? Hey, even an attempt on target would be an improvement on what they’ve produced up to now.
GOAL! Bayern 1-0 Internazionale (Götze)
80 min: At last! Rode picks out Götze by splitting the Inter defence down the middle. The keeper races off his line, Götze spots him, steadies and dribbles around him and jogs with the ball into the empty net.
79 min: Bayern have been dominant but there’s a certain lack of sharpness in their finishing. Of course Guardiola is unlikely to be too annoyed by it – he’ll be more concerned about Lahm’s first half injury – but it’d be a shock to see them spurn some of the chances they have had her when it comes to the Bundesliga.
78 min: Take a guess how many saves both Bayern goalkeepers, Neuer and Ulreich, have made? Zero!
75 min: Could I have a run out, Mister Guardiola? Inter enjoying a little more of the ball but all that they can muster is a succession of balls down the left flank and a succession of throw-ins before Bayern squeeze them and regain possession.
72 min: And now Bayern are making their ninth and 10th changes. Lewandowski and Benatia are replaced by Green and Steinhart.
70 min: This is ridiculous. Inter make four changes at the same time. Popa, Nagatomo, Razovan, Delgado, Baldini are all given a 20 minute run out. Icardi, Brozovic, Hernanes, Kovacic have completed their evening’s work. On the field, even less is happening than before.
68 min: The only threat at the moment is coming from Lewandowski, whose impact is minimal despite that. This time he finds Rode with a pass but the substitute’s back is to goal and he is dispossessed.
66 min: Bayern’s eighth change: Thiago strolls off, Gaudino jogs on.
65 min: The ball breaks kindly to Lewandowski but he cannot find any team-mates so is forced to have a go from over 30 yards as white shirts hunted him down. It’s tame and the goalkeeper smothers.
64 min: Groan! Two more Inter substitutions: Santon and Gnoukouri enter the frah, while Ranocchia and Montoya make way
61 min: Benko looks lively. He has plenty of space on the left, cuts back for Götze, he lets the ball run under his legs after a shout from Lewandowski but the striker blazes way over.
59 min: Benko controls a wayward pass from Thiago on the left, hurdles a Montoya challenge but runs out of space and the ball trickles out for a goal-kick. Bayern make another pair of subs: Rafinha for Boateng, Rode for Douglas Costa.
57 min: Götze is stood on nastily by Ranocchia. A free-kick is given but no card. Hojbjerg drives it low, the ball deflects off the wall and goes out for a corner while nestling in the side-netting. The corner is taken short and another sustained spell of Bayern possession near halfway follows.
55 min: Double change for Internazionale, as Longo and Andreolli replace Dimarco and Palacio.
53 min: Kimmich showing lots of tenacity and does well to dispossess Hernanes and the ball works back to the defence from where Bayern will build possession once more.
51 min: There’s a little more zip about Bayern’s play now but Inter continue to soak up the pressure well, even if they are struggling to get out of their half.
48 min: Kimmich fires over from range. Confident start from the 20-year-old.
47 min: Inter made one change, D’Ambrosio on for the anonymous Kondogbia.
Peep!
46 min: We are back underway. Bayern have made four changes, including in goal. Ulreich, Götze, Benko, Kimmich have all come on. Neuer, Müller, Alonso and Bernat have made way.
We should be resuming shortly. Meanwhile, Lahm has told some journalists before the game that he is not sure Müller will stay.
Terrible things come to those who cash out.
Half-time! Bayern 0-0 Internazionale
Bayern have all the ball but no goals to show for it. Inter defending well but showing very little in attack.
45 min: Another good chance for Bayern. Douglas Costa accelerates past poor Dimarco, who is grimacing after being shown a clean pair of heels, and finds Müller. The Germany international steadies and tries to thread a right-footed effort into the bottom left corner but it rolls a yard too far and trickles harmlessly wide.
42 min: We’ve lost a lot of the game’s initial zip in the past few minutes. Bayern are passing and passing and passing but Inter have all 11 players camped in their own half and red shirts cannot find a way past those in white.
39 min: Lahm is off down the tunnel with an injury of some sort, though he is walking freely. Hojbjerg is on for him. Inter have also made a change: Murillo is replaced by Jesus.
36 min: More good play from Bayern but in the end a spell of possession in that familiar Guardiola U-shape ends with Inter conceding a corner. It amounts to nothing.
33 min: Great block Murillo! Müller is denied before the rebound falls kindly to Lahm. He pulls the trigger with Handanovic out of position but Murillo makes an impressive slide on the line to keep the game scoreless. It cannot remain like that much longer if Bayern keep creating this many chances.
31 min: Müller feeds Douglas Costa who does a little jig before attempting a return pass which is … poor again!
28 min: Another Bayern corner after Thiago is halted well by Dimarco who momentarily has switched from left-back to right. Again, the delivery is poor.
25 min: Lewandowski is clear and appears through on goal but Ranocchi dives in and takes him down. It should be a foul but play continues and the Poland striker is furious.
23 min: A rare counterattack from Inter as Kovacic zooms forward and finds Palacio with a through ball. He gallops clear on the left side of the box but cannot find Icardi near the penalty spot and Bernat clips the danger.
Updated
21 min: Now Lahm eases down the right and sends a low ball towards the front post. Lewandowski arrives but his attempt is deflected wide for another corner. The corner hangs and is blootered up the field.
20 min: Douglas Costa is finding it so easy against the 17-year-old Dimarco on the right wing at the moment. He beats him on the touchline and sends another cross towards Lewandowski. It is cleared for a corner which is then hooked away.
19 min: Hernanes gets a telling off for going in hard on Boateng but, sensibly, there’s no card given.
16 min: There have been piles of flicks and tricks from Bayern – not least Douglas Costa – and they seem set on entertaining the fans but they are lacking some clincial incision.
14 min: Another rubbish bounce from what appears a dodgy surface. Lewandowski plays a cross-field pass to Thiago, who goes to control but the ball flies over his head at an unusual trajectory and out for a throw-in.
12 min: Another half chance for Bayern. Alaba zips along the left after intercepting inside his own half and cuts the ball centrally to Müller. The attacker’s effort is scuffed wide.
10 min: Douglas Costa produces another brilliant run, this time cutting in on his left, but instead of shooting himself he inexplicably passes to Lewandowski, who was surrounded by white shirts and cannot get a shot away. Poor decision making from the new Bayern signing.
9 min: Lewandowski shuffles back on but is not fully comfortable. Douglas Costa dazzles some more out wide but his low cross his below par and trickles into the hands of the Inter goalkeeper.
7 min: Good save from Handanovic from Lewandowski, who appears to have injured his foot when striking with his right boot. He hobbles off the pitch, lies down briefly but is soon back on his feet.
4 min: Oh dear, Handanovic. Dimarco heads a ball back towards the goalkeeper but it takes an untrue bounce off the surface and goes over his head. He retreats and smothers before the ball crosses the line but that was mildly worrying. On the sideline, Mancini grins.
3 min: And Inter break immediately. Hernanes has a pop from the edge of the area after dispossessing a dozing Xabi Alonso. His shot is deflected over for a corner which is cleared.
2 min: Douglas Costa, all £21m of him, zooms down the right flank but cannot find a red shirt with his cross.
2 min: Update, it was Bayern who kicked off playing from left to right as we view it. It’s also raining quite heavily in Shanghai.
Peep!
1 min: One of the two teams have kicked off and we are still waiting for pictures.
Well this is annoying. Are the teams on the pitch? No idea because the penalty shootout in Melbourne is ongoing. We’ll probably miss the start of this, unfortunately – let’s hope there isn’t an early goal.
We’re waiting for TV coverage of this to start because Roma v Manchester City has gone to penalties after a 2-2 draw. Join Paul Doyle for that but do make sure to come back once they have a winner in Melbourne.
The starting cast
Bayern: Neuer, Benatia, Thiago, Lewandowski, Costa, Alonso, Boateng, Bernat, Lahm, Müller, Alaba.
Internazionale: Handanovic, Montoya, Ranocchia, Murillo, Dimarco, Brozovic, Kovacic, Kondogbia, Hernanes, Palacio, Icardi.
Are you excited? Of course not. This is a pre-season friendly with the primary aim of making money in a football mad country that does not often get to see these elite players in action, a game where we are unlikely to learn one thing never mind five – unless politics’ Pep Guardiola introduces us to a new formation – and the intensity will not quite be the same as next month when the Bundesliga and Serie A get underway, especially considering the humidity in Shanghai. No matter, here we are …
If you do want some pre-match hype you could say Bayern are looking for revenge for the 2010 Champions League final, but considering the amount they have won since you would only by cheating yourself by believing it. Amusingly, the Observer match report from that game started with a reference to Ian Holloway – safe bet that that is unlikely to happen again.
Kick-off: 1pm BST.
Teams: soon.
In the meantime, here’s the new song from Foals. It’s great. I promise it’ll make your foot tap.
