Pep Guardiola starts his farewell tour as Bayern Munich coach in Hamburg tomorrow and hopes to end it in Milan on May 28. Tomorrow’s Bundesliga restart game at SV Hamburg is Munich’s first since the December 20 announcement that Guardiola will be leaving in summer when his three-year contract expires.
The Spaniard and his team will hope for a maximum 27 games between January 22 and May 28 in order to complete his tenure with a title treble from the Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League, the last culminating in the Milan final in late May. This treble was achieved under similar circumstances by Guardiola’s predecessor Jupp Heynckes in 2013.
Guardiola, who is set to move on to England, has won the Bundesliga in each of his past two seasons, and the German Cup in 2014, but the previous two Champions League campaigns ended in the semi-finals against Real Madrid and his former club Barcelona.
The 2013 European Super Cup and Club World Cup are also on Guardiola’s list of merits at Munich for a total of five, compared to the 14 trophies he lifted during the four years in charge at Barcelona between 2008 and 2012.
While a record fourth straight Bundesliga title appears all but a formality, given Munich’s eight-point lead over Borussia Dortmund, Guardiola will be mainly measured on his success in Europe where the 2015 runners-up Juventus await them in the last 16. For now, Guardiola insists that “the next game in Hamburg is the most important,” and Munich got a wake-up call last weekend when they lost a tune-up game 2-1 against second-division Karlsruhe.
Guardiola has cemented Munich’s domestic dominance with possession football, and he also agrees to their decade-long confidence and winning mentality. “We are Bayern, we are the best, we must win everything,” Guardiola said. “Bayern Munich will always be special to me.”
But Guardiola’s farewell is not expected to be as emotional as those of Heynckes or Ottmar Hitzfeld, under whom Bayern won the 2001 Champions League.
For forward Thomas Mueller, the facts presented in late December could help the team just as they did three years ago, with Italian star coach Carlo Ancelotti taking over around on July 1. “Until then, every player will give it all he has,” Mueller said. “I hope we will go in the same direction as with Jupp Heynckes in his last six months. But you can’t predict it.”
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer said the team must have found its rhythm by February 23 for the first leg against Juventus, and striker Robert Lewandowski added that this level must at least be kept, if not raised in the following months.
“It will be very important to keep the attention span until the end of the season. We can only win all three trophies in this way. Team spirit will be as important,” Lewandowski told Sport Bild.
While admitting it is “a little strange” to know that Guardiola will be departing, Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal also aims for the top prize in European football after missing out last year in the final 6against Barcelona when playing for Juve. “I want to help my team win the Champions League. I believe I can do it this year,” Vidal told broadcasters Sport1.
Injuries could be a factor but Spanish midfielder Xabi Alonso is upbeat that Bayern have no one to fear if all players are on board. “When all players are fit we get the feeling that we can beat everyone and fight for everything,” Alonso said.