Bayern Munich defeat Barcelona 2-0 in pre-season friendly

It was expected that Barcelona will field a weakened side as they arrived at the Allianz Arena without 11 of the internationals, with the exception of Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano, who played in the Confederations Cup.

However, Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola assembled a relatively stronger side with only Mario Gotze, Bastian Schweinsteiger and Javi Martinez missing out from the starting eleven.

Skipper Philipp Lahm opened the scoring for the Bavarians in the 14th minute of the game as he headed in a perfectly timed cross by Franck Ribery. Bayern dominated for most parts of the game with Barcelona being the second best. However, they had no goals to show for that as the first half ended 1-0.

As the second half resumed, Barcelona had entirely replaced the playing 11, thereby further weakening the team as Bayern Munich strolled through the low-key affair.

Barcelona defenders did well to fend off most of Munich’s attacks but eventually the Croatian international Mario Mandzukic scored the second goal for his team by tapping in a nicely passed ball by Diego Contento from the left flank in the 86th minute.

The match ended 2-0 on the night with Pep Guardiola celebrating a win over his former club.