Bayern Munich vs. Inter Milan: Lessons Learned from Pre-Season Friendly

Bayern Munich continued their pre-season preparations with a smart win over Inter Milan in Shanghai on Tuesday afternoon. 

In the glamour tie, Pep Guardiola opted to start a strong side intent on playing out his tactical wishes for the day, before bringing on a whole new team throughout the latter stages of the game. 

Although such games can rarely be taken with too much seriousness, there are little bits and bobs fans and analysts can take from the games.

Here is what we took from Bayern's 1-0 victory over Inter on Tuesday afternoon. 

Douglas Costa Looks Ready to Go

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

If there was one notable, standout performance from Bayern in the opening 20 minutes of Tuesday’s game, it was the terrified speed to which new signing Douglas Costa attacked the Inter defence. 

The Brazilian defender truly terrorised the Italian defence for much of the game with a direct style of play that didn’t look that dissimilar to the man he may one day replace, Arjen Robben. 

If the new signing can keep it up when the important matches come to play, then we may just be in store for a new star in Munich. 

Guardiola Continues to Baffle with Tactics

Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

One of Guardiola’s leading creeds among his style and footballing ethos is the manner in which every player in his team can play a number of positions. It’s a style that dates back to the very dawn of Total Football in Holland years ago and one that was clearly on show against Inter on Tuesday.

Although the match was a friendly and rarely taken as anything besides that, Guardiola’s team truly looked like a melting pot of innovation and talent.

Aside from the rather notable three-man defence of Mehdi Benatia, Jerome Boateng and David Alaba, it was truly anyone’s guess as to where the likes of Philipp Lahm, Juan Bernat and Thomas Muller were playing.

Bayern’s Uber Pressing Continues to Dominate Priorities

Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

Although Bayern showed off a whole host of stars in Shanghai on Tuesday afternoon, their manager had very little time for any individual brilliance on the day.

Rather, the side looked drilled to ensure the collective performance from the team was placed far beyond any tempting, individual spark of brilliance or entertainment.

This meant an afternoon of closing Inter down as a team, which then meant a game of football that better resembled an attack versus defence training regime. Not very entertaining for the neutral but exactly what the Bayern manager wanted to see.

Mario Gotze Has the Final Word Despite Recent Speculation

JOHANNES EISELE/Getty Images

Although the German star in question never started Tuesday’s glamour tie, Mario Gotze certainly had the last laugh against critics and reports alike when he bagged the only goal of the game in the 80th minute.

The former Borussia Dortmund star did exceptionally well to dribble past the goalkeeper and tap the ball in when played through just 10 minutes before time. A smart, composed goal from a player constantly linked with a move out of Munich.

In a game crying out for some composure and an extra spark of talent in the final third, it was the man in the spotlight who proved just what he can do when given the chance.