Guardiola to debate reducing Bayern squad

Manager content after beating former club Barcelona 2-0 in friendly.

MUNICH: Coach Pep Guardiola will sit down with director of sport Matthias Sammer and chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge about reducing Bayern Munich’s star-studded squad after they play Borussia Dortmund tomorrow in a repeat of the Champions League final.

Guardiola’s Bayern enjoyed a 2-0 win at home to his former employers Barcelona in Wednesday’s friendly, but the Spaniards played their first-team players only until the break.

Led by Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Barcelona’s star played just the first 45 minutes as goals by captain Philipp Lahm and Croatia’s Mario Mandzukic sealed the European champions’ win in front of 71,137 fans.

With the Bundesliga just over two weeks away, Guardiola has some tough decisions to make as he attempts to accommodate a plethora of stars with 10 full international midfielders in his squad.

With Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mario Goetze returning from injury and Spain’s Javi Martinez back from Confederations Cup duty, some of Bayern’s stars will find themselves on the bench next season unless they find new clubs.

“We will talk about this after the Super Cup, we are still getting to know the players,” said Guardiola.

Having signed Spain U21 captain Thiago Alcantara from Barcelona, Guardiola has said he is trying out ideas.

But Brazil’s Luiz Gustavo has been linked to 2009 German champions Wolfsburg, while Liverpool are reported to be interested in Swiss winger Xherdan Shaqiri.

“We have several players who can play in different positions, I like players who are flexible and can fit into different systems. Toni Kroos has dropped into a defensive midfielder position, I am trying things out and want to test things in these friendly games.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2013.

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