The 117th pre-season of Bayern Munich’s history begins in July, with the Bundesliga champions pitted against a host of great opposition. 

The Bavarian club are due to face Spanish, Italian and Chinese opponents in the coming weeks, with the pre-season games beginning on July 12 in the Telekom Cup against local rivals Augsburg.

The team will travel to China for an extended tour—where they are due to meet Valencia and Inter Milan. The players then return to Munich to host the Audi Cup, featuring AC Milan, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.

Here is the full schedule for FCB‘s upcoming practice matches as they prepare for another year of action, per the club’s official website, including current available viewing details:

 

Douglas Costa Fulfils Bayern Dream

After being mentioned in passing with the elite clubs of European football for an extended period, Douglas Costa has finally made the jump—becoming Bayern Munich’s major new signing for 2015-16. 

The Brazilian international is set to link up with the FCB squad on July 11—the day before the Telekom Cup—and could potentially make his Bayern debut just 24 hours later, per the Associated Press via the Daily Mail.

Costa has been a burgeoning talent for many seasons, but his performances at Shakhtar Donetsk have elevated in the past couple of years.

The attacker has also returned to the international fold, appearing three times at the recent Copa America, per WhoScored.com. However, he missed a vital penalty in the shootout against Paraguay as Brazil departed proceedings.

Costa was clearly delighted at joining the historic German team, per the Associated Press: “A dream has come true for me today. I’m proud to become a player for Bayern, following in the footsteps of so many magnificent Brazilian players.”

Douglas might be viewed as the long-term heir apparent to Arjen Robben, who is prone to constant injury concerns, but the Brazilian has much to live up to in order to meet the Dutchman’s standards.

Robben started only 20 Bundesliga games last term, but he returned a stunning 17 goals and seven assists, per WhoScored. 

It is unlikely Costa is ready to meet this lofty standard at present, and he will need to be broken into Pep Guardiola‘s setup with a gentle hand.

Bayern defender Rafinha supported this train of thought after the announcement of Costa’s €30 million transfer, speaking to the club’s official website (h/t Stefan Coerts of Goal.com): 

Douglas Costa is a quality player, but with all due respect to the Ukrainian league and Shakhtar, Bayern are a different world, and Bundesliga opponents are better, more dynamic, more physical and quicker. He’ll spot that straight away. We’ll certainly have to give him time to settle in.

I’m delighted we’ve signed another Brazilian, but the coach decides who plays where. I only know Douglas Costa from our matches against Shakhtar last season. However, when Dante and I flew from Brazil to Germany last week, he was coincidentally on the same flight, although he was seated a fair way away from us and we couldn’t talk a lot. As a result, I can’t really say a lot about him yet.

Guardiola needs to bring fresh blood into Bayern‘s operation, and Douglas is a player who can bring this element.

He is a talented player who is no longer just a kid with potential, but it will be a transition over the next 12 months.

The expectations at Bayern are huge, and Costa will have to adapt his game to German football. Diminutive players of the calibre of Xherdan Shaqiri have failed to make the jump at Munich, so Costa must bring his “A” game with him, when he settles in Bavaria.

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