Goals from Gabriel Vidovic and Leon Goretzka gave new Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany a 2-1 win over Tottenham on his first real test since taking the reins at the Bundesliga giants.
There was no reunion for Tottenham’s Son Heung-min with his former captain Harry Kane, who is still resting after leading England to the final of Euro 2024 last month and did not make the trip.
The German side’s Eric Dier did get a chance to catch up with his former Spurs teammates, and was seen chatting to Son, Richarlison, James Maddison and others as the teams warmed up before kickoff.
Munich was into its stride quicker with former Arsenal attacking midfielder Serge Gnabry firing over the bar inside two minutes.
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Moments later they were ahead when Vidovic slotted through Guglielmo Vicario’s legs after more good work from Gnabry.
Kompany’s side played some mesmerisingly slick passing football at times and Goretzka doubled the lead after half-time in an entertaining match which saw a hatful of chances at both ends.
Pedro Porro’s thunderbolt from 30 yards put Tottenham back in the hunt after 66 minutes and Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and teenager Lucas Bergvall all went close as Spurs poured forward looking for the equaliser.
Tired Tottenham
Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou said his players had struggled for energy after a long trip to Japan and South Korea in scorching summer heat.
“Fair to say the players were showing the effects of us working hard here for 10 days,” said Postecoglou. “I think we’ll get an enormous benefit from the camp we’ve done here though, but tonight we perhaps just paid the price for it.”
The match was a 67,000 sell-out at Seoul’s World Cup Stadium, with many fans wearing replicas of Son’s Tottenham shirt and Bayern’s Korean defender Kim Min-jae’s jersey.
“Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae are now playing for foreign teams as South Koreans,” Kim Jae-woong, a 24-year-old football fan, told AFP prior to the match. “The fact that these players can play in their own country, in South Korea today, makes me feel good as a fellow Korean.”
An Sung-hyun, a 22-year-old fan, said, “I’m looking forward to seeing a combination between Son Heung-min and Kim Min-jae, something where they collide.”
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Fan Cha Sang-hyuk said, “Since I am wearing Son Heung-min’s uniform, I hope Son Heung-min scores first.”
National hero Son scored twice in Tottenham’s 4-3 win over a K-League All-Stars side in a midweek match, but cut a disappointed figure on Saturday after being kept off the scoresheet.
“I’m really grateful for the support from many fans,” said Bayern’s Kim. “It was a tough match. “(Son) Heung-min is a great player, and we agreed not to run into each other before the game. Thankfully, we didn’t encounter each other too much.”
The teams will face each other again at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in north London on August 10.
Tottenham travel to Leicester City on August 19 to kick off its Premier League season, while Bayern will open its Bundesliga campaign against Wolfsburg on August 25.
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