Football Season Guide

Bayern Munchen will be hoping for another record breaking season as they look to successfully defend their domestic and European crowns. Last season proved to be the best in Bayern's history as they completed a historic treble of Bundesliga, DFB Cup and Champions League titles. Expectations for the current season were raised even before the end of last season after Bayern revealed that Josep Guardiola will be replacing Jupp Heynckes at the helm and the German giants have backed the former Barcelona coach by making some big money signings after acquiring Mario Gotze from rivals Borussia Dortmund and Thiago Alcantara from the Catalan giants while Jan Kirchhoff was also signed after his contract expired at Mainz. Gotze and Thiago's signings mean that Guardiola now has six central midfielders vying for three positions. The Bayern coach has gone some way in addressing the problem by selling Emre Can to Bayer Leverkusen while there are reports that the club is also willing to listen to offers for Luiz Gustavo. Bayern are also reportedly in the hunt for a central defender with Chelsea's David Luiz linked with the club though Guardiola was quick to dismiss the reports. Mario Mandzukic will be the first choice striker for Guardiola with Bayern selling Mario Gomez to Fiorentina. While Guardiola has been working hard to get the team play in the way he wants to, Bayern have struggled to impose themselves on the opposition during the pre-season friendlies, which has led some to criticize the coach's attempts to alter the side’s system that had worked brilliantly for them last season.