Today, the friendly tournament "Audi-Cup" will be played in Munich. The tournament consists of four teams, FC Bayern, AC Milan, Manchester United and Boca Juniors. The first semi final is between Manchester United - Boca Juniors and the second one between Bayern Munich – AC Milan.
Of course this is only a friendly tournament, but for Bayern fans it is a bit more important than any other tournament. First of all it consists of some of the best teams in the world, although Boca Juniors and AC Milan did not have their best seasons last year. Secondly we never want to loose to Manchester United again after 1999 and I believe we will play them in the final. Thirdly and most importantly for me is that this is the last test before the Bundesliga starts next week. In fact we will play in the DFB Pokal already this weekend.
Luis van Gaal will probably for the last time test his starting 11, although Franck Ribery is still injured. And the players will want to show him that they want to be included in the starting line up. For the other teams the tournament should be of lesser importance since their start of the season is still a way to go. The English Premier League only starts on the 15th of August and the Argentinean Pimera Division and La Liga only later in August.
Bayern has a disastrous record against AC Milan, but this Milan team is not the same as it was some years ago, when Inzagi used to score every single time against us. Kaka is gone and so is much of the flair of this team. I certainly believe that Bayern will win tonight the semi final.