Bayern Munich 2-0 Sao Paulo
 |
| The Audi Cup, 2013. Remember this moment. |
And so it was that I rocked up into Munich expecting to have a night off from football. However, even before I arrived at my hostel, the smell of the footie was in the air. I'd seen 2 or 3 people dotted around in football shirts. 'SPFC' they said. Sparta Prague? They didn't look very Czech. Then at the hostel, there were plenty of folk wearing Man City shirts, as well as Bayern Munich. What could it all mean? A pointless pre-season 'tournament'? You bet!
 |
| Some fans were 'on message', |
Having checked in, I searched the internet to discover it was the 'Audi Cup 2013'. Wow! I can't miss this. Tonite was Man City v AC Milan followed by Bayern Munich v Sao Paulo. Ah, of course, SAO PAULO. Actually, I'd already made an educated guess, since all of their fans looked..errr...South American.
18:15 KO, so there was no chance of me not missing that. But an easy journey to the stadium, line 6 to Frottmaning. However, the train wasn't going that far up the line (engineering problems?) so when the Bayern shirts got off at Alte Heide, I jumped off too, like the sheep that I am. Outside, we were met by a fleet of buses ready to take us direct to the stadium. Note: we English can't even put that in place for a COMPETITIVE game, let alone a glorified friendly.
 |
| I arrive...3-0 already |
From the drop-off point, you still have to walk half a mile up a slight incline across scrubland to the Allianz Arena. It's like the wide expanse of nothingness that was/is the no-man's land of (No) Pride Park, Derby.
Still, the stadium is an impressive sight. I wonder where the ticket office is? How much are tickets? Touts were selling as you got off the bus, and since a staggering (to me) 52,000 had already been sold (source: Man City's website), was it sold out? I also had another problem: I'd left most of my euros at the hostel. I only had €24 on me.
 |
| Full time, eight goal thriller. |
Turns out the ticket offices are below ground, before you get to the stadium. Another deliberate ploy not to ruin the Arena's sightlines? Yes there's tickets. €20 in the stehplatz, €45 in the seats. No, they don't take cards. So I buy a standing ticket and hope I don't get too dehydrated watching the best part of two matches. I needn't have worried.
Firstly, I smuggle in my bottle of water. That was nice of the steward, not to search me. Secondly, while you needed an 'Arena Card' to buy anything, you could put credit on it using your...credit card. Well, I'm here for the whole evening, let's have €20 on that.
 |
| Joe Hart, directing. |
Just as I enter the stadium, I hear a cheer. I know I've missed a goal but at this point I don't even know who's playing. It's 23 minutes in and it's Man City 3 AC Milan 0. Of course it is. There'd better be more goals - and there was. By 35 minutes it's 5-0. 'Man City are in dreamland' said a Manc stadium announcer. Interesting idea, letting all 4 teams bring their own stadium announcer. Wouldn't happen in a league game. By half time it's 5-3, which begs the question: what's the point? Friendlies, I mean. Is it sad or hilarious that 56,500 have turned out to watch the Audi Cup?
 |
| Pep, making his home debut\/ |
I don't normally do 'friendlies', at least not involving my own team. I once chatted to Harry Bassett after a defeat to a bunch of Swedish part-timers. 'Hell of a workout they had this morning and they were too knackered this afternoon'. That's all friendlies are for: getting fit and making as many substitutions as possible.
Oh, and Man City finished 5-3, despite Milan missing another 3 one-on-ones. The class act in the game was David Silva, whose name I couldn't remember until now. David Villa? No, it's not him, He's the little beardy one who was at Barca. Who is it? David...Villa? No, he's the...etc
 |
| Bayern's introduction...in a FRIENDLY! |
Later, Bayern cruised home 2-0, with possibly the best XI I've ever seen. Whilst being a friendly, it was a pleasure to see Robben and Ribery in full flow on the flanks, ripping Sao Paulo to shreds at will. Which reminded me, when was the last time I'd seen the current European champions live in the flesh? Dunno, but I remember the 1st: 84/85, FA Cup quarter final, Barnsley 0, Liverpool 4 (0-0 after 55 mins).
 |
| Possibly the best starting XI I've ever seen. Possibly. |
The atmosphere at the Allianz was all very...nice. The stadium seemed full of tourists. Like me! Was this the only chance for many Bayern 'fans' to see a game? (I say 'fans'; they had Bayern shirts on, but had no idea how the 'Arena Card' system worked,) The main noise was the constant chatter round the ground, interspersed with kids smacking those cardboard clackers together. Half a dozen Bayern fans a few seats (sorry, I never mentioned, they'd put seats onto the terrace) along were constantly chanting and trying to get things going, but really, it was all a bit Emirates Stadium. People just wanted to sit, stare at the football impassively and politely applaud a goal / individual piece of brilliance. Nothing wrong with that, I thought, as a man handed me a beer while I sat in my seat.
Attendance: 56,500
The Damage:
€20 ent
€20 beer/food (beer was €4 a pot, bredzels €2.70)
The Tunes:
Liquid Skin - Gomez
Endtroducing - DJ Shadow
Tripomatic Fairytales - Jam and Spoon
 |
| 8 goal, blue skies..another game to go. Perfick! |
 |
| Bayern - SPFC match action. |
 |
| Spare seats on the left. Corporate? |
 |
| As 'perfect' as a stadium can be. |
 |
| My view in Game 2. I'd moved. |
 |
| Match action. |
 |
| Underground parking (stadium to right). |
No comments:
Post a Comment