With Euro 2016 in the rear-view mirror, Bayern Munich now prepares for a United States tour and the 2016-17 Bundesliga campaign.
May 21, Bayern Munich played its last game of the Pep Guardiola era, a scoreless draw against Borussia Dortmund in the finals of the German Cup (DFB Pokal); the Reds won 4-3 in penalties to lift the trophy.
On June 12, three weeks later, Germany played its first match in UEFA Euro 2016, the European Championships held every four years. The squad featured six Bayern regulars: goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, defenders Jerome Boateng, Joshua Kimmich and Mats Hummels (a new acquisition), midfielder Mario Götze, and forward Thomas Müller. The Germans advanced to the semifinals before falling to France, for whom Bayern midfielder Kingsley Coman is a contributor.
Meanwhile, newly acquired young midfielder Renato Sanches played a key role in Portugal's shocking title run; he scored one of only two goals in Portugal's quarterfinal advancement over Poland. The other scorer: Poland's Robert Lewandowski, a Bayern star.
Defenseman David Alaba was probably Austria's biggest star before they got eliminated in group stage. Midfielder Thiago was on Spain's squad.
Across the Atlantic, Bayern midfielder Arturo Vidal was probably the best player on a Chile team that just won the Copa América Centenario. If not for injury, Bayern midfielder Douglas Costa would have had a feature role for Brazil's squad in the same tournament.
The Euro 2016 finals took place on Sunday, July 10. On July 20, Bayern will host Manchester City for a friendly. By July 25, Bayern will have flown to the United States to participate in the International Champions Cup. They will play AC Milan at Chicago's Soldier Field on July 27, Inter Milan at Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium on July 30, and Real Madrid at New York's MetLife Stadium on Aug. 3. (You can find the full ICC schedule here.)
On Aug. 14, they play Dortmund in the German SuperCup. On Aug. 26, the Bundesliga season begins.
There was an offseason somewhere in there. In European soccer, the offseason is more of a theory.
What's changed about Bayern's squad?
While their players have been off playing internationally, clubs themselves have continued their day-to-day activity. But Bayern hasn't been incredibly active, either with players in or out of the door. Backup midfield Sebastian Rode, who appeared in 38 matches over two seasons, left for Borussia Dortmund. Meanwhile, from Dortmund, they picked up Hummels, a 27-year old-defender who began his career with Bayern. And from Benfica, they added wonder kid Renato Sanches, who chose Bayern over Manchester United and others. Also: They got Pierre Højbjerg back from a season-long loan with sixth-place Schalke 04, then sold him to Southampton.
There are always transfer rumors floating around, and it wouldn't be a tremendous surprise if Götze or defender Mehdi Benatia were to end up sold to another club at some point. But that hasn't happened just yet, and attempting to parse transfer rumors for realistic tidbits is a challenge.
The biggest change, obviously, comes at manager, where Carlo Ancelotti will grace the sideline instead of Pep Guardiola, who left for Manchester City.
Guardiola's legacy in Munich is fascinating. In three seasons, Bayern won three Bundesliga titles; they have now won four titles in a row for the first time. In Pep's tenure, Bayern also won two of three German Cups and reached the Champions League semifinals in all three of his seasons.
But they never won the Champions League. In terms of quality, Guardiola accomplished nearly impossible consistency, but his tenure will forever feel slightly incomplete because it didn't finish with a European title. So there is one specific way that Ancelotti can top him.
Ancelotti has not necessarily had the league success that Guardiola has at Bayern and Barcelona, but if you're looking to secure the one thing Guardiola couldn't, Ancelotti is a bit of a ringer. He is the only manager to have won the Champions League three times (2003 and 2007 with AC Milan, 2014 with Real Madrid), and he has made the semifinals on three other occasions.
The 57-year-old former Roma and Milan striker sat out last year recovering from back surgery after his ouster from Real Madrid.
Actually, Renato Sanches deserves his own section.
Hummels is probably the most likely new acquisition to have an immediate impact, simply because of need. But Sanches is a fascinating addition.
We'll see what impact Sanches can have at Bayern in his first season; to say the least, Bayern's midfield is a bit crowded. Veterans Franck Ribéry and Arjen Robben are both expected to be healthy when the season begins, Vidal is in peak form, Costa seized control of a regular spot last year, and I haven't yet mentioned Thiago, Coman, midfielder/attacker Götze, or midfielder/defender Kimmich.
When he hits the field, though, be sure you're watching.
At 18, he was the man of the match in Portugal's Euro quarterfinal win over Poland, a staggering feat. In his play, he never forgets to remind you he's 18 -- on the rare occasion that he is dispossessed, the odds are good that he's committing a foul within about six seconds -- but his skill and physicality are something else. With Sanches, Costa and Coman in the midfield, Bayern boasts three of the most exciting young players in European soccer.
Beyond all else, Bayern has further crafted a squad built around options. Guardiola took positional flexibility to almost comical levels at times, but whatever tactical shape Ancelotti craves, there are pieces for it.
Bayern doesn't have Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo, and it bears mentioning that a team with one of these two players (along with, yes, quite a few other stars) on it has won the last three Champions League titles.
But in terms of long-term planning and the compilation of depth, no club has built itself to succeed, year after year, like Bayern Munich, and as good as Guardiola is, it certainly appears they are as much a threat to win Europe without him as with him.
Bayern is hitting the American markethard.
As a nod to its growing U.S. fanbase, Bayern had its home stadium, Allianz Arena, lit up in red white and blue on July 4. It also announced that its 100th U.S. fan club had just come into existence. Lucky No. 100: Greer, S.C.'s Stern des Südens South Carolina. ("Stern des Südens" means "Star of the South" and is one of the many nicknames associated with Bayern.)
We can forever debate the level to which soccer might catch on in the States, but it has caught on enough for powerful clubs to want a piece of the market. Bayern appears to be doing as good a job as anyone in that regard. Their English Twitter account has 577,000 followers, which is dwarfed by the follower totals for English-language Real Madrid and Barcelona accounts. But Bayern appears the only of these clubs with a U.S.-specific account.
The International Champions Cup is a series of friendlies involving a significant number of clubs in three different countries: the United States, Australia and China. A total of 10 matches will take place in the States, involving not only Bayern, Real Madrid and the two Milan clubs, but also Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and English Premier League champion Leicester City.
This marks the second time in three years that Bayern have made an American sojourn in whatever constitutes the "offseason." In 2014, they played two matches (against Deportivo in New York and against the MLS All-Stars in Portland) in coordination with their opening of an American FC Bayern office in New York City.
